Operation Defect
by The Last Letter
Summary: Rose was thinking of sandy beaches and a new identity. Jake was thinking about the world and getting away from home. When she almost runs him over, the two decide to road trip together, forming a bond that neither of them expected. But their summer of teenage love and fun isn't what it seems. There's a dark force brewing in the home they left behind and it's out for blood.
1. Run Away With Me

_de·fect (n.)_

_An imperfection or lack that causes inadequacy or failure; a shortcoming or deficiency._

_To abandon a position or association, often to join an opposing group:_

Rose popped the trunk on the black convertible and loaded up her bags. She checked over her shoulder but, in the predawn light, there was nothing to see. There was certainly no one coming after her which was a first. She tied her hair into a ponytail and slid into the driver's seat, adjusting her sunglasses on top of her head. She pulled her brace onto her right arm and took a deep breath, staring forward. It was time. She turned the key in the ignition and the car purred to life.

She turned right, not bothering to look in the rear-view mirror as she left her life behind. She didn't feel an ounce of regret – not one. She was eighteen and this was the time when other kids in the city were setting out on their lives. She wasn't going to be left behind, just because someone had thought that her life had to go a certain way.

"I am making my own choices now. I am going to live. I am going to have fun!" Rose said aloud, forcing herself to really let it sink in.

And she felt fun, in flirty little shorts and a halter top, flip-flops on her feet. She was even wearing lip gloss! It was the end of June and she was ready for the beach. But she wasn't in the mood for New York beaches. No, she was claiming her freedom by driving all the way to L.A. to stand on a beach on the opposite side of the coast. She'd never been allowed to even leave the state!

Why not extend it? Why ever come back? She could leave the continental USA if she wanted! There was nothing stopping her now. Oh, people would look for her. They would try to stop her but Rose knew how to move undetected. They would never catch her.

She laughed and pushed down on the gas pedal as the city started disappearing behind her. She was going to find out what it was like to sleep without the traffic sounding below, see the stars without streetlight interference, and just be a normal girl in a place where she wasn't expected to be anything more than that. The road ahead was beautiful, clear, open and –

Not open at all.

Rose slammed on the brakes, sending the car skidding across the pavement. The boy who'd nearly been in the path of her car picked himself up off the side of the road, where he'd landed in the dry ditch after diving out of the way.

"Watch where you're going!" he shouted.

"Me?" Rose snapped, veering her car back into her lane and pulling up next to him. "I'm in a car! This is a road! _You _were standing in the road!"

"I'm hitchhiking. How else am I supposed to get someone's attention?" He leant against her door. "Where are you headed, by the way?"

"Hitchhiking? Pretty sure the 70s made it clear that 'hitchhiker' means 'I'm going to murder you'."

"I'm just trying to get out of town," he said. "I don't care where I end up as long as it's away. And, you can search me if you want to. I'm not carrying any weapons."

Rose eyed him carefully. He was short but bulky, like he spent a lot of time working out. He probably knew how to use those muscles but she wasn't worried about it. She knew what she was capable of. And he had dyed hair! The tips of his jet-black hair were dyed a lime green and that, above all else, made Rose feel like he wasn't going to attack her. She knew it was irrational but, what the hell, so was packing up and leaving New York City and that was exactly what she was doing.

"I don't know where I'm going," Rose said. "So, just jump out when you want to."

"Seriously?" He grinned at her. "Thanks!"

He tossed his lone backpack onto the floor of the passenger seat and then sat down heavily. "My name's Jake, by the way."

Rose reached out and shook his hand. "I'm Rose."

His fingers were warm and calloused, as if he'd been working as a labourer for many years, even though he couldn't have been much older than she was. She let go of his hand and pointed the car forward again.

"No GPS?" Jake asked.

"Nope. I'm ending up where I'm ending up," she said vaguely. She had an end goal, of course, but he didn't have to know or care about that. If she hit every small town in the middle of here and there, she'd be satisfied. If he wasn't happy about it, she'd just leave him in one of them. Or if she found he was too annoying to travel with. "A couple of rules if you're going to be in my car."

"Sure," Jake said. "I'm a good boy; I can follow rules."

There was something mischievous in his dark brown eyes that made Rose think that 'good boy' wasn't the most common way that someone would have described him. He was wearing long, cut off shorts and a plain, long-sleeved white t-shirt. His backpack looked like it had seen better days. With his messy, black and green hair, he looked more like a troublemaker that would sit at the back of the classroom, not even aware of what a rule was, let alone how to follow them.

"No asking why I left."

"Only if I get the same in return."

Well, it was only polite, she supposed, and she hadn't really intended on asking, mostly because she didn't care. Now that he had told her not to ask, though, she was suddenly plagued with curiousity.

"No touching my music."

"You're not _playing _any," Jake said. "Seriously, silence _will_ drive you insane."

"Maybe it would you," Rose replied. "I'm on this trip to enjoy myself and do nothing of importance. If you get in the way of that, I reserve the right to kick you out whenever I please."

"All right. Stranger in your car, I get it. Anything else?"

"Not that I can think of right now," Rose admitted, "but I also reserve the right to come up with any later."

"Fair enough," Jake said and he made himself cozy in his seat, leaning his head back. "This is a nice car, though."

"Thanks, I stole it."

He laughed and Rose allowed herself to grin too, because he sincerely thought she was joking.

"I do like that not eating in the car isn't a rule. I have a friend, hated anyone to eat in her car. She bought it herself and even though it was a beater, she wanted to keep it nice."

"It's a road trip," Rose pointed out. "Pretty sure that eating fast food with one hand while driving to the next destination is, like, half of the experience."

"Did you read that out of the road trip manual?" Jake asked.

Rose glared at him.

"Just asking! Because if you did, you clearly skipped the part about the road trip soundtrack! You're supposed to make your own mixed CD and cruise –"

"CD?" Rose asked. "What is this, 2005?"

"Or Spotify playlist or whatever! Personally, a road trip _tape _would be the pinnacle of teenaged road tripping."

"A tape?" Rose repeated. "What, no record player in the backseat and a trunk full of vinyl?"

"I just think tapes are neat," Jake said. "I'm not, like, a purist or anything because they don't really have good sound but –"

"They're _neat_? I think I plucked you from a different decade."

"I like 90s hip-hop," Jake said. "You can't sue me over that. Actually, you should let me play some so that we can jam out, sing along, have fun."

Rose shook her head.

"Aw, come on –"

"My car, my rules."

"I'm asking for permission," Jake said. "It's not breaking a rule if there's an addendum."

"You've been sitting in my damn car for fifteen minutes and you want an addendum."

"Yeah. Being quiet was not one of the rules."

"I just don't think it would be fun to blare music I don't know," Rose said.

It was true. Not only did she not know anything of 90s hip-hop specifically but she didn't even really know any music. She didn't really know anything about the outside world and that was why she was here. She wanted to learn, to know, and discover. She hadn't anticipated on someone sitting next to her in the passenger seat who already knew all of the things she didn't. She was used to being the smart one; the one who was in control. Next to Jake's real-world experience, she knew she fell short, and she didn't want to admit it. Even over something as stupid as a music genre.

"Oh, bet you know this one," Jake said.

Rose expected him to touch the radio or pull out his phone and start blaring music. Instead, he burst out rapping and it was all Rose could do to keep her eyes on the road instead of staring at him incredulously.

"_With so much drama in the L-B-C_

"_It's kinda hard bein Snoop D-O-double-G_

"_But I, somehow, some way_

"_Keep comin up with funky ass shit like every single day_

"_May I, kick a little something for the G's (yeah)_

"_and, make a few ends as (yeah!) I breeze, through_

"_Two in the mornin and the party's still jumpin_

"_cause my momma ain't home –"_

"No!" Rose finally exclaimed, knowing that he could probably do the whole song without a hitch. He just seemed like that type of person. "No, I don't know this song."

"You didn't even let me get to the chorus!" Jake said and then he launched into it. "_Rollin down the street, smokin' indo, sippin on gin and juice_

"_Laid back (with my mind on my money and my money on my mind)_

"_Rollin down the street, smokin' indo, sippin on gin and juice_

"_Laid back (with my mind on my money and my money on my mind)."_

"No," Rose repeated. "I don't know it."

"_Gin and Juice _is a classic, girl," Jake said. "You've got to let me put it on. Otherwise, it's going to be a long drive."

"I might get bored when we hit Philadelphia and just turn around," she said. She had no intention of ever turning around but the less he knew about anything, the better for her.

"You _will_ get bored, all this quiet. The sounds of wheels on the road is not enough."

"Nope, I won't be talked into it."

"We don't have to play _my _music. We can listen to yours. What is it? Pop? Folk? Hardcore metal? Please say hardcore metal, that would be _so _hot."

Rose tapped her fingers on the steering wheel, absently thinking that she should paint her nails. First stop she made, she'd get nail polish. Bright red, something crazy, just because she'd never been allowed to before.

"I don't like music," Rose said. It was better to make it sound like a choice: I don't _like _music rather than I wasn't _allowed _to listen.

Jake scoffed. "Fine, all right. I don't believe you and we'll come back to this but I don't want to be kicked off in Philly."

"Why?"

"Not far enough away," Jake said. "I have nothing against Philly but I want to put at least half the country between me and home before I settle."

Rose almost asked why but then she caught herself. That was against the rules and she couldn't fight with him about breaking the music rule when she immediately asked him what he was running from.

"So, you got the road trip hand book in here?" he asked.

"What? No? Is that a real book?"

Jake laughed at her. "No. You need to chill a little, Rose, anyone ever tell you that?"

"I have reasons for being the way I am," Rose snapped.

"Probably under the 'don't ask' banner, huh?"

"Yes."

"Well, then, I guess _Deep Questions _is out."

"What the hell is Deep Questions? And, keep an eye out for Philly signs. I'll want breakfast by the time we're around there."

"Road trip game, obviously. It's a way to get to know the people you're travelling with better."

"Road trip game?" Rose tried not to scoff as she said it. This sounded very normal and playing a road trip game with a hitchhiker had to be a better experience than being alone. He might bail by the time they hit the Midwest or before and then she'd have many states to be alone. "Isn't it just _I Spy_?"

"No," Jake aid. "I Spy is boring and also I'm really bad at it."

"How can you be bad at I Spy?"

"I just don't notice things, I guess," Jake said, laughing it off. "Um, hey, _Would You Rather_ is fun! I can be bad at that sometimes too because I don't get that creative with it but let's give it a shot."

Rose grit her teeth and then asked, "How do you play?"

"Man, talk about me being from another decade, I think you just popped into existence in this car."

"Great, thanks," Rose said. "I definitely wanted to hear that. Just be nice about it."

Jake briefly explained the game, which basically boiled down to picking two undesirable things and forcing the other person to pick which one they'd rather do.

"All right, easy one for the first one: only eat or only drink?" Jake asked.

"Only drink," Rose said. "That first drink of water after a work out is everything to me."

"Gross but agree because beer."

"Would you rather," Rose began and then she frowned. "This is hard."

"Yeah, that's the point. Usually when I play it at parties, things get dirty fast."

That was making Rose even more curious about his past. A guy with friends and parties to go to was not the kind of person that up and ran away from his life. He was the kind of person that had everything going for him.

"Would you rather time travel to the past or the future?" Rose asked.

"Oh, good one. Future. I don't care about what happened. I want to know where I end up because, right now, I have no idea."

"Yeah but if you know how your future is going to turn out then you might make different choices and not get the future you think that you are."

"I'm not here for a philosophical debate," Jake said, "even if I agree you have a point. Okay, would you rather have an extra arm or an extra eye?"

"Extra eye. I guess. Depends on where it is," Rose mused. An eye in the back of her head would be useful. An eye in the middle of her back wouldn't be.

"You don't get to know. That's the thing."

Rose had to admit, to herself only, that the game did make the time move along faster. Not only were there the questions but the conversations that sprung up between each question. It was nothing heavy, just the discussion of why it was less gross to kiss someone who had never brushed their teeth than to lick the sole of someone's foot. Rose was glad when they reached Philadelphia because she was starting to run out of things to ask him.

"What are you thinking for breakfast? McDonald's? Because, I kind of hate their coffee. I'm a Starbucks coffee kind of guy."

"That surprises me," Rose admitted.

"I am all nonsense and so it only makes sense that I'd require whipped cream on my coffee."

Rose laughed. "You know what, let's sit down somewhere today."

"Yeah, where?"

"We'll see where calls to me."

"All right, your car, your call, I guess," Jake said. "But, I don't have a lot of money so my vote is for McDonald's."

Rose waved her hand. "I'll pay."

"Huh? I can't let you do that; you don't even know me."

"My choice, I'll pay. You choose, you pay," Rose said. "I think that's reasonable."

Jake shrugged. "Thanks."

Rose pulled up found a parking spot and put the top on the car up.

"I'm going to go see what's around. You coming?"

"You're my ride," Jake said. "I'm following you. Plus, I've never been here before. Walk might be nice."

Rose delicately drew her purse strap across her body while Jake threw his bag over his shoulder before they started down the street. The first restaurant they came across was called LaCroix.

"This place," Rose decided. It looked nice, well-kept, and also her stomach was grumbling so badly that she didn't know if he had the willpower to walk by it. She had left so early this morning that she hadn't time to eat.

"This place?" Jake crossed his arms over his chest. "Looks fancy. And we definitely _don't _look fancy."

"Come on," Rose said. "If they don't let us in, they don't let us in, but we might as well see."

It turned out that Jake's fears were unfounded. There was an opening in the reservation booklet, which was only sheer dumb luck, judging by how crowded it was, and they were led to a table in the corner by the hostess who laid out menus and told them that their server would be with them shortly. Jake picked up his menu and immediately gasped.

"Lobster and caviar eggs? Rose, you know how to pick 'em."

Rose laughed. "I don't know if I want caviar on my eggs."

"Have you eaten caviar?"

"Haven't you?"

Jake scoffed. "Haven't _I_? Who are you where everyone in your world has eaten caviar?"

"Nope, ties into the running away thing," Rose replied. "Not allowed to ask."

"Hello, I'm Hans and I'll be your server this morning!" A well-dressed waiter poured water into their glasses. "Can I interest you in anything to drink?"

"I'll have a coffee, please."

"Cream and sugar on the side, miss?"

"Yes, thank you."

"I'll have a macchiato," Jake said.

"I'll return for your food orders shortly."

"What's even in a macchiato?" Rose asked once Hans had left.

"Don't know, don't care, back to things I'm not allowed to ask about –"

"I thought you were a rule follower?"

"We're eating breakfast, we've ordered drinks, I have about forty-five minutes to an hour of free range."

"Not what breakfast means."

"I just want to know this: you're not, like, a foreign princess on the run or something, are you? There's not secret service coming after me because they think I've kidnapped you. I just want to know that I don't have to fear for my life."

She wasn't a princess but simply saying that wasn't enough. And, so, she just winked at him.

"Yeah, all right," Jake said, "I get what you're laying down. But – and I'll tell you this of my own free will – you are not harbouring a fugitive from the law."

"Thank you for that. I guess."

"Have we decided on food items?" Hans asked as he laid down their drinks.

Honestly, Jake had distracted her and she quickly began to scan the menu.

"I'll just get the Norwegian Benedict," Jake said.

"And I will have the Avocado Toast," Rose replied.

Hans assured them that their food would be with them shortly and then he swept away.

"But, seriously, you don't have to pay for this. It's kind of expensive."

"Seriously," Rose replied, "don't worry about it. My choice, my treat."

Jake picked up his macchiato and sipped, looking around the room while Rose studied him. He was handsome, with the black eyelashes surrounded his small, dark eyes. Of course, what did she really know about handsome men? They were firmly in the world of things that she had no experience with. She just knew that, sitting here, she liked the way that his sleeves had to stretch to fit over his biceps.

"Gotta ask you another question," Jake said.

"All right."

"This one isn't against the rules."

"I'll be the judge of that."

"I just want to know how old you are. Look, I'll make myself vulnerable first: I'm eighteen."

"It _is_ a very personal question," Rose said playfully, "but we're the same age so I don't feel bad about sharing that with you."

When the food came, Rose found out that Jake was a moaner when it came to food, although he called her a slob and had to remind her several times that there was something on the end of her nose. It was surprising to Rose that she was so comfortable sitting there at the table with him. This virtual stranger that she'd nearly run over that morning.

When the meal was finished, Rose counted out bills from her purse and tossed them on the table.

"Is that a hundred percent tip?" Jake asked, following her out the door.

"He was very nice," Rose said.

"Yeah, he was, but whether or not he deserved a hundred percent tip wasn't my question. My question is who can _afford _to tip that much?"

"He works hard. He earnt it. More than the person I stole the money from."

Rose unlocked the car door but Jake remained on the sidewalk. She dropped the top of the convertible down, the mid-morning sun warming her skin immediately.

"Are you coming or not?"

"Are you a princess or a fugitive?" Jake asked. He tossed his bag on the floor and jumped the door. "I have questions."

"Right, but questions," Rose reminded him, "are against the rules."

"Yeah, but –"

"Anywhere in Pennsylvania that you absolutely _need _to see or should we just see how far we get before we need lunch?"

"Is there anything to see in Pennsylvania?"

Rose turned the ignition and started off, not caring what road she was taking as long as it was in the opposite direction she'd left behind. They were still too close for comfort.

Jake snapped his fingers. "You were in the mob."

"We're not playing this game."

"Then, can I play some music?"

"I thought you were good at following the rules," Rose reminded him.

"I am good at _trying _to."

"You left that part out."

Jake tilted his seat back, tucking his hands behind his head.

"You're not going to kick me out of the car."

"Don't be so sure."

Rose snorted but Jake just closed his eyes and began to hum loudly, as if to make up for the lack of music, and they drove on.

(-.-)

Haley sat in the corner of the kitchen, listening to her father talk on the phone.

"I understand that but he is my son, he's never done anything like this before! … Yes, he's eighteen … Yes, he left a note … No, you don't understand, Jake wouldn't have run away! He's missing!"

Except, of course, he wasn't missing. He _had _run away. It was Haley who had found the note, sent in by her father to wake Jake because even though it was summer vacation, he wasn't allowed to sleep until noon. She'd walked into his room, finding that the only thing in his bed was a sheet of paper. Jake's bed being empty wasn't anything new – emergencies for the American Dragon could happen any time of day, after all, but the paper was. She picked it up, needing a moment to decipher her brother's scratchy, narrow writing.

_I'm sorry but I can't be here anymore. I need to clear my head and find my own path. Tell Gramps I'm sorry and that he's been a great teacher. It's not his fault that I failed. I'm safe (you know I can take care of myself) and I'll call or come back when I feel ready. I need to breathe and I can't do that at home._

_ Mom, Dad, Haley, I love you._

_ -Jake_

"Mom!" she'd shouted, because there was nothing else to do. Jake had turned eighteen, he was free to leave, but he couldn't. Not like that. Not without goodbye, not without her even realizing that he was thinking about doing it or preparing to do it. He couldn't just vanish in the middle of the night with no assurances or phone calls.

It was Gramps that had taken it the hardest. He didn't let anyone see it but the minute that Susan had called Lao Shi to tell him what had happened, he had come over to the Long house and had been sitting on the couch with Fu. Haley and Susan had both tried to speak with him about whether he'd noticed anything – as far as they knew, he was the last person to see Jake, but Lao Shi had just shaken his head. Fu had whined, though, which made Haley feel suspicious of her grandfather. The next calls were to Trixie and Spud, who both claimed ignorance, saying they had tried texting Jake for a house party last night but he'd never responded, the way he wasn't responding to texts or calls now.

Deep down, Haley didn't really believe that Jake was in any danger and, unlike her father, could accept that there were reasons that he might want to run off and vacation from his life, but she didn't want to think it was what he had done. To just up and leave them? It didn't feel like the Jake that she knew but, despite living with each other for all of her twelve years, Haley had to admit that she probably didn't know Jake that well. Maybe that was why he'd run away. Maybe he felt like he didn't know himself either.

She slipped from the kitchen chair as Jonathan continued to argue with the cop on the other end of the line, eavesdropping on her mother and grandfather.

"Dad, you have to tell me if there's anything that happened. Anything that would make him run away because if there was something then he'll work through it and come home but if nothing happened, if he's just been feeling like this, then I'm scared he'll never come back. I mean, did we put too much pressure on him? The whole dragon thing, did he feel like that was all that he could ever be? Is that why he left?"

"Jake loves his job," Gramps said, "I assure you that, despite the pressure, he excelled. He cared. Our last mission went poorly. He felt responsible. If there is something for him to work through, it may be that."

"So, he'll come home. He'll call soon and let us know that it's okay and he'll be home. It'll be okay!"

Haley could hear the forced optimism in her mother's voice and, she had to admit, that she didn't agree. It didn't seem that simple. Jake had been through a lot of things in his years as the American Dragon and had suffered a lot of disappointments and bad missions. Whatever had caused him to run, to abandon the responsibility which he not only embraced but loved, Haley knew that it had to bad. Really bad.

She wanted him to come home but she knew that it wasn't going to be quick and it wasn't going to be easy.

**All right, here is the first chapter of **_**Operation Defect. **_**For the first time ever a Jake/Rose story of mine might not get crazy angsty … No promises, though.**

**I hope you enjoy this new take on Jake/Rose and I'll see you next Thursday for our second chapter!**

**Let me know what you think of the chapter and don't forget that you can find me on tumblr: we - are - all - of - legend - now!**

**~TLL~**


	2. Renegades

"So, you'll just drop that much money on breakfast, _one _meal, but you find the most flea-bitten, roadside motel in a hundred miles, and decide, yes, that's perfect, we'll sleep here for the night."

Rose put her hands on her hips and turned to face him. Jake couldn't help but grin. It was easy to get under her skin and it was the most relaxed that he'd felt in a while, on the open road with a pretty girl and no one else knowing his name. It was more than he'd hoped for when he'd started walking away from his house last night, unsure of where he'd end up.

"Restaurants don't ask questions. Fancy hotels do. Did you want to sleep on a park bench? Because you can leave my motel room."

"Nah," Jake said, dropping heavily onto the bed closest to him. "You've got two beds. What would you do with the other one?"

"I'm sure I'd find something."

Jake propped himself up on his elbows, watching Rose heft her bag onto the end of the other bed. She was so dry that he honestly couldn't tell when she was joking and when she was being serious. Or, times like now, when there was an equally good chance that she was flirting with him or that this was just how she was. Jake didn't know her well enough yet to take a chance that she was flirting with him, especially because he liked her company and her car. That being said, he sincerely hoped that she _was _flirting with him because she was hot as hell.

"I'm going to take a shower," Rose said. "New rule –"

"You're going to have to start writing these down at some point," Jake said.

"Don't tempt me. No looking through my bags."

"Am I going to find the head of your enemies in there?"

"Don't go digging and find out."

Jake heard the shower turn on and for a moment, he let himself fantasize about what was happening behind the closed bathroom door. He groaned and then opened his bag, glancing through the things that he'd packed earlier and taking inventory. It wasn't much. There was his cell phone rattling about in the bottom, though he kept it turned off so that they couldn't track it; he didn't care how paranoid that sounded, he was sure they were trying to. He had a several changes of clothing and a jacket shoved inside, along with deodorant, a toothbrush and toothpaste, and hair gel, somewhere. He could hear his mother in his head, talking about his untidiness and how he should take better care of things.

But, he wasn't at home anymore and it wasn't as though he had a lot of options.

He grabbed the remote from the nightstand between their two beds and started flipping through the channels. Cartoons, the news, reality TV. With the choice between a foreign soap opera and _The_ _Bachelor_, Jake went with _The_ _Bachelor_. It was stupid and mind-numbing, everything that Haley said it was, but when a group of her girlfriends had decided that it was the thing that they were into this year, she went to their houses weekly or hosted them at theirs, so that they could all watch it together.

The shower shut off and Rose came out. Jake glanced at her; gone were the little cut-off shorts and the shirt that showed off her shoulders. Instead, Rose was wearing a little pink nightgown which was so distracting that Jake barely registered that she was still wearing her heavy arm brace. She sat at the end of the bed, crossing her ankles over one another and Jake was distracted by her long, long legs. She was taller than he was by about two inches which meant that there was a lot of leg to look at and Jake wasn't going to deny himself the opportunity to look. If she cared, if she noticed, he was sure she'd lay down a rule about it.

Rose drew her hair over her shoulder, rubbing it dry with a towel.

"What are we watching?"

"It's _The Bachelor!_ It's only the worst show on television."

"I've never seen it."

"Basically, they're all competing to date him."

"_Why_?" Rose asked. "Is it real? Does it work?"

"Work, almost never. Real, eh. Why, for the drama."

"And people watch this?"

"You _are _a people, Rose, hate to break it to you."

She laughed. "I think we're different brands of people."

Jake shrugged. "People are people."

"Unless I wake up and you really are trying to kill me. Then, I'd say you're different."

"You were the one that told me you were loaded. You gave me motive."

"For murder?"

"People have been killed for less than what you spent on dinner today."

"Let it alone! Besides, I could take you."

Jake would like to see her try. She clearly spent time and energy on herself, with defined muscles, clear skin, and the healthy diet she'd maintained on their day on the road. Still, even the biggest gym rat, body builder, pro wrestler on the planet, could not compete with dragon training. Not that he thought he'd have to resort to that. Rose didn't seem the attacking type but, even if she was, it wasn't like his human side was a slouch either.

"I feel like I have to say that I won't try to kill you if you don't try to kill me."

"Is that your first rule?" Rose asked.

"Sure, let's make it a rule: no homicides on this road trip."

Rose stood to hang her towel over the bathroom door to dry and the edge of her nightdress lifted from her thighs to just under the edge of her bum.

"I think," she said, turning around and Jake looked away, "that should be an easy rule to follow."

"Or we could turn into Bonnie and Clyde." Jake watched her face, wanting to know that she knew who Bonnie and Clyde even were. He wanted to know just how much of a rock Rose had grown up under.

"I think I have to know you for more than twelve hours before we suicide by cop together."

Jake glanced at the clock. "You picked me up at, like, what, five in the morning? It's been at least fifteen hours."

"Not enough time." Rose stared at the TV. "I don't understand the appeal of this. It doesn't seem romantic in the least."

"Chocolates and wine in a hot tub doesn't seem romantic?"

"Not when there's another girl lined up after you to do it again," Rose said. "Plus, I think that's trying too hard to be romantic."

"So, someone trying to date you shouldn't buy you gifts?"

"No one has ever tried to romance me," Rose replied, "and I've never wanted anyone to. I just think that it should be equal parts organic and effort."

"_You've _never been on a date?" He found that hard to believe.

"I'm eighteen. That's not strange."

Rose sounded defensive which was the only thing that made Jake keep his mouth shut, even though he was dying to say more about it.

"Were you showering tonight or in the morning? Because I like to get an early start."

"Morning," Jake said. "Helps me wake up. Wait, are you going to bed now? It's barely even nine!"

"Early start, four a.m."

"_Excuse me_? What are you in such a hurry for? We covered a lot of distance today and we probably skipped some stuff, no sight seeing or anything. We're in Charlotte. We could slow down. Whatever is chasing us won't know where we went."

"Whatever is chasing us?" Rose said. "I thought you weren't a fugitive."

He wasn't but that didn't mean that every magical creature from here to the west coast wasn't keeping an eye out from him. And, there was no telling what had brought her to tear out of state in her little black convertible.

"Or whatever we're running from. Come on, that's not asking, that's just a good guess," Jake said. "Or, true about me, at least, you can deny that it's true about you."

There was a wall that came down over her whenever had got a little too close to poking at the heart of the matter and Jake really didn't want to push her too hard. Not after less than a day, anyway. Maybe later.

"Road trip equals fun, okay? You should have read that in the book too."

"Well, the book expressly said not to pick up hitchhikers so I'd stop referencing the book if I were you."

"Come on," Jake said, "I appreciate you and I thank you for letting me tag along. I'm just saying, you asked when we were in Philly if there was anything that I wanted to stop and see. We spent all day driving. Maybe we should find something to do, something to see. There's nowhere we have to be, no one we have to report to. Let's do something tomorrow. And not at four in the morning. Eight? You've got to be tired after spending all day driving."

"That was … four arguments for sleeping in, by my count."

"Did any of them work?"

"You're right. I left this morning wanting to have fun and enjoy myself. I'm not on the run. I can take my time and see Charlotte, North Carolina." Rose paused and stared at him. "What's in Charlotte, anyway?"

"How am I supposed to know?" Jake said. "Let's just get lost. Who cares? We'll find something. And breakfast. We'll find breakfast and adventure."

"At least we already have your priorities sorted out," she mused.

"A good waffle will change your whole ass life," Jake said. "That's my motto."

"Really? _That's _your motto?"

"It's true. Two a.m. waffles in a New York diner, half drunk with your best friends will _change _your whole perspective. Or, even alone, on an all-nighter when you can't sleep." Jake tried not to think of Trixie or Spud specifically. He wasn't going to say their names, he wasn't going to think of what he'd left behind, because he'd left it behind for a reason. "What's your motto?"

"Early bird gets the worm, last one alive gets the feast."

Jake sucked in a breath, searched for something to say, and then came up blank. Last one alive?

"I don't think that's a real quote."

"It is now. I said it." Rose shrugged. "What's this show?"

"_The Bachelorette_."

Rose groaned and rested against her pillows. "Is this what I think it is?"

"Absolutely. What, you think girls are dramatic? You should see a group of guys."

Rose laughed. "Well, there's just one of each of us so we should be all right."

"Or we'll go all Bonnie and Clyde," Jake joked.

Rose threw a pillow at him and Jake caught it, surprised at the force behind the throw.

"Thanks, I was thinking mine wasn't fluffy enough."

"You're going to give that back, aren't you?"

Jake didn't answer.

"Jake?"

"I think it's time to put my pyjamas on," he said, "and then cuddle up with the extra pillow room service decided to bring up. It was so nice of them."

Rose sat up, crossing her arms over her chest, but Jake pointedly didn't look at her as he stripped off his shirt.

"No, no, don't tell me you sleep naked. You gotta go if that's the case."

"I sleep in my underwear," Jake said. "Unless you're asking me to sleep naked."

"If you're sleeping naked, you're sleeping outside. Hey, is that a tattoo?"

"Yeah. Got it when I was sixteen. Kind of dumb but I still like it."

Rose clambered off the bed and moved closer, her hand reaching out before she pulled it back into herself.

"May I take a look?"

"Sure."

She placed her slim fingers against his bicep, looking at the thick black tattoo that curled around his upper arm. It was the outline of a Chinese dragon in heavy blacks, simple lines, nothing too stylized, although the face on it did remind him of Gramps. It was just tribal looking enough that Trixie had decreed that it made him destined to be a frat bro but he loved it. He _still _loved it, even though he admitted that it had been dumb to go out and get it when he was sixteen and Susan had hit the roof the first time she'd seen it. Jake had gotten it, though, the first time he'd watched Gramps be badly injured in a fight, the first time that he'd had to step in and save his grandfather rather than the other way around. He had wanted to preserve his mentor, keep a part of his grandfather, and his heritage with him at all times.

"Why a dragon?"

"It's a Chinese dragon, specifically. Don't know if you noticed but I'm –"

"Chinese?" Rose guessed.

"Yeah. Well, half. My grandfather is very traditional and so I got this as a reminder of values, morals, where my family came from, you know. Plus, he has a lot of dragon images around his house and it just makes me think of him."

"It's nice artwork," Rose said slowly, her hand leaving him.

"What's with the tone?"

"Guess the thought of getting a tattoo freaks me out," Rose said, turning her back on him suddenly.

"It's not so bad. Maybe that's what we do tomorrow: you get a tattoo."

"Ha, no."

"So, you definitely _don't _have one."

"Definitely not."

Not that there was a lot that she'd kept hidden, skin-wise, in her summer clothes. Which Jake appreciated. Not the thought of it, necessarily, when he was only wearing boxer shorts and Rose had proved herself observant.

"Can I have my pillow back now?" Rose said, spinning around again.

"Uh, no," Jake decided. "Royal decree."

"I thought you said you weren't a prince."

"I said I wasn't a fugitive. I could very well be a prince still."

Rose laughed. "I paid for the room which means I am royalty in here."

"In this mildew motel palace."

"Any place is a palace as long as the queen is there."

"Oh, you're queen now."

"Just decided."

Before Jake realized it, Rose had sidled around him and grasped onto the pillow. She brought it up between them, grinning triumphantly at him. Jake gazed up in the deep blue of her eyes and didn't have time to form a cohesive thought before she said, "I win. Goodnight, Jake."

"You mind if I leave the T.V. on?"

"No. Go ahead."

Jake sat on the edge of his bed, watching as she methodically turned down the covers, set the alarm clock, and then climbed into the exact middle of the bed before obsessively tucking herself back in. She flipped her braid over her shoulder, laid down, her hands linked over her stomach.

"Really? You sleep like a corpse and you _don't _want me to murder you?"

"What? This is how I'm comfortable!"

"All right. Just, sweet dreams and know I'm judging you."

"I think I can live with that."

She turned out the lamp between their two beds and Jake got under his own covers, tucking one hand behind his head and watching the end of _The Bachelorette _play out on screen, without paying any attention to it. In case, he was overly aware of how one leg was crooked, the other straight, one arm flung across the bed and how he was definitely not in the centre of it. And he couldn't imagine that any other position was more comfortable than the one he fell asleep in.

(-.-)

Rose wasn't used to not feeling like she was on a mission. She supposed she could consider seeing the west coast a mission but it felt more like a goal. She didn't need to accomplish it right here, right now. Jake had been right last night – there was nothing to stop them from stopping to sniff the flowers. However, it was quickly decided in the heat of the morning that they weren't going to spend their day rambling around North Carolina. She had gone to get coffee while Jake bought himself sunglasses and swim trunks and then they sat in the car with their coffee and muffins, deciding that it was a day for the beach. They could have gone to any beach and they probably would have found one closer but Jake had pulled out the map from her dashboard.

"You know, I think – correct me if I'm wrong here – but," he said, "I think there's this thing, Google, maybe, has a map. GPS? I know you said you're ending up where you end up but what if you did come up with a specific destination?"

"GPS and phones can be tracked. Paper map can't."

"Well, it makes me feel less crazy that I'm not the only one who thought that," Jake muttered.

Rose tapped her fingers along the steering wheel, watching him. He had admitted he wasn't a fugitive but who else, but someone in her situation, that wasn't a fugitive would think about turning their phone off while running away and not being traced that way? Unless he was actually under eighteen and she was harbouring an underage runaway but Rose dismissed it. They were blatant about the things that they weren't telling one another and he had no reason to lie to her. They were just strangers on a journey.

"How long do you think that this distance would take to drive?"

Rose leant into the console and against his shoulder, thinking of the dragon tattoo on his left arm that she was leaning against. It was almost funny that he had a dragon tattoo. Almost.

"Tybee Island?"

"It's in Georgia. I don't think Georgia could be crazy far. Let's go to a beach there today."

"If we don't make it during the daylight, we'll go night swimming. We've got nowhere to be." Rose situated herself back in her seat and then she looked at him again. Day two with a stranger. "Unless you want to get out."

"Nope," Jake said, "I am happy where I am … Unless you're trying to give me a hint that you're sick of me."

"I'm not," Rose said. Now that he was sitting in the passenger seat, she couldn't imagine how lonely the miles would have been if he hadn't been where he was the day before. "I'm surprising myself with that, though. I really thought that I wanted to be alone when I left New York."

"Joke's on you, I'm like an STD; you'll never get rid of me."

"Okay, gross. Read the map and tell me where we're headed."

"Read a map?" Jake said, shaking the paper map loudly. "What do you think this is? 2005?"

"More like 1990-something," Rose said. "Come on, you picked the place, you have to navigate."

"Or you could let me drive us there."

"Hitchhikers don't get to drive the car; they only get to navigate."

"All right, all right, take a left when you leave here."

Jake was quieter on today's drive than yesterday's, concentrating on the map instead. Over the next couple of hours, though, he managed to take a couple of shots about the fact that they were driving in silence. Rose was tempted to just let him play music but, now, it felt too much like she was giving in and if there was one thing that she absolutely did _not _do, it was surrender. She restrained herself to not saying anything when he hummed or sang to himself as he studied the map. She could have been a hard-ass and claimed that it violated the spirit, if not the letter, of her rule, but Rose was tired of being the hard-ass.

The drive had seemed like it would be longer when they were looking at the paper map but it took just under four hours. For all the driving that they had done yesterday, four hours just zipped by in a blink and before Rose knew it, they had arrived.

Jake hopped out of the car, stretching his arms wide before turning back to Rose.

"Are you a sit on a beach towel and tan kind of person, beach volleyball kind of person, or a swim all day kind of person?"

Rose hesitated, concentrating too hard on getting out of the car and reaching for her bag so that she didn't have to answer.

"Is there a trashy romance novel involved?" Jake asked. "Come on, what's your beach day personality?"

"I don't know," Rose blurted. "I've never had a beach day."

"What? No way. There are beaches in New York. There's no way you've never been to a beach."

"And I don't like music and I've never seen a reality TV show," Rose said. "I should stop surprising you at some point."

Jake grinned. "I hope you don't."

"What?"

"Let's go get changed into bathing suits," Jake said, "we'll have to do everything today to figure out what your beach personality is!"

Rise looked around. Tybee Island wasn't just a beach. There were shops, restaurants, and tourist attractions. It was a sizable little place and Rose thought that it was, all in all, a good place to spend the day and, if they were lucky, they could find a place to spend the night. Maybe they could check out one of those restaurants and she could try a drink.

"We also don't have sunscreen or beach towels."

"All right, we'll go and get prepared," Jake said. "Pick whatever fancy store you think will have whatever will please your royal needs."

Rose ignored the comments and gestured for him to follow her. She picked the closest place, which had large beach towels and big bottles of sunscreen. Rose went to pay and noticed the rack of books next to the counter: ones with swooning women whose breasts were exploding from their revealing dresses and men whose shirts were blown open to show off their ten-pack abs. She glanced over at Jake, who was bouncing a pink beach ball on his palm and then back at the novels. Was this what he meant by a 'trashy romance'? She'd certainly never read anything else like it and she wanted to find out what all of the fuss was. She picked one up called _She's My Mom _that had an older, more demure type of cover. The other ones had the type of revealing clothes that she'd always fantasized about but got nervous about whenever she got near them. She had embraced it the other morning in a way that she couldn't find herself to embrace it now. Now, she let herself be a little nervous.

And it had nothing to do with the comment that Jake would make if he saw her with a book cover like that.

She paid for her things and then draped Jake's towel over his shoulder.

"Come on, let's go."

They stopped at little dressing room shacks to change into bathing suits. Rose wriggled into hers and picked at the brace around her right arm. It wasn't beach appropriate but she couldn't take it off. She only took it off when she slept, not only because the pain was real but because she hated looking at it. Otherwise, she thought that she looked normal, cute, even, in her little cherry printed bikini with the ruffles on the bottom. She pushed her way out of the dressing room, towel in her arms, interested to see Jake. She knew that swimsuit trunks were essentially the same as the boxers that he wore to bed last night but she had enjoyed the fact that he slept in boxers. His chest was just as sculpted as his tight shirt had led her to believe. Rose didn't know what to make of what she thought of it – it excited her, it scared her, she wanted to keep experiencing it – but as long as he was around, she was going to make herself enjoy his presence. All of it.

He came wandering out of his own dressing room, his dark sunglasses covering his eyes but his tattoo out on display. Rose tried to keep her eyes from wandering to it, instead, trying to focus on anything else.

"After you," Jake said, gesturing her forward. "It's your beach day; go find a spot of sand that calls to you."

"You comin'?" Rose asked.

"Yeah, always."

And, so, Rose picked her way across the hot sand, Jake trailing along in her wake.

(-.-)

The Huntsmaster stood in his office, looking down at the New York skyscrapers. In this office, in this building, in this organization, he was supposed to be lord of his domain. He was not supposed to be defied or questioned, his every word was supposed to be followed, his every whim respected. He was strong, he was capable, and none of it felt like it mattered, because the Huntsgirl had taken flight.

He gripped the edge of the windowsill, wishing that the wood would splinter in his hands, just to let him feel some destruction. It had been a full day since she had gone and he hadn't been able to find her. She'd walked out of the Huntsclan carrying funds from their account and had just vanished. He had hunted on his own – the first time that he'd done anything on his own since he was a weak cadet – and had failed. He was reluctant to sound the alarm that she was gone. He didn't want to other Clan members to know that the prized pet could just walk off like that because then they might start to think that it was an option.

And, it wasn't an option. When he got a hold of her again, he was going to draw and quarter her, like in the good old days when executions were a public fanfare. He was going to make an example out of her and let anyone know that if they tried to follow in her footsteps, worse would happen to them.

The worst part, not that he ever really admitted it to himself, was that he couldn't understwand _why _she would leave him. The Huntsgirl had seemed to be built of the same stuff that he was, seemed to revel in the job just like he did, and was the first person that he turned to when he wanted anything accomplished. She was capable, strong, and unflinching; the Huntsmaster had worshipped the very ground that she walked on and he had felt worshipped by her in return.

There had been no sign, no acknowledgement, that two days after they had toasted her eighteenth birthday together over a gourmet meal, that she would be gone.

The Huntsmaster picked up the phone and then put it back down.

He wouldn't sound the alarm. Not yet.

He would hunt her down himself if it was the last thing he did.

**I almost forgot it was Thursday! It's day nine or something of my work week and I'm glad I remembered to post this before my shift started!**

**Let me know what you think of the chapter and don't forget that you can find me on tumblr: we - are - all - of - legend - now!**

**~TLL~**


	3. Walking On A Dream

The sun was setting across the ocean but Jake hardly noticed it. He and Rose had gotten caught up in a beach soccer game that pitted them against two twins from Savannah. And here was where Rose seemed to come completely alive on the beach. She had enjoyed the tanning – and Jake had enjoyed rubbing the sunscreen along her back – and they'd waded into the waves – though she hadn't wanted to swim properly, as she said she couldn't take off her arm brace. But, now, pitted against the twins who were taller than her and more muscled than him, this was when she had a large grin on her face.

Jake stood in the makeshift goal net while Rose went to battle with Trevin. Jake watched the ball. Trevin seemed smoother, like he knew what he was doing when he had the ball, but Rose was fast and a small force of nature. Sand went flying as she managed to get around Trevin, kicking the ball and getting it by Jordan, who dived for the ball and missed wildly.

"And that's five for us and two for you!" Rose said triumphantly. "Jake! We won!"

She bounced back to Jake's side and raised her hands. Jake high-fived her, grinning like a madman. He'd stood in goal and had been barely necessary, since Rose hadn't let Trevin get close to him. She had done all the work but if she wanted to hug him on her high, he'd hug her back.

"Round two?" Jordan, the other twin, asked, picking up the ball.

Jake didn't like the way that he was giving Rose a once over. It was hypocritical of him, since he knew that _he _did it and he knew that he had no claim over her, but he didn't like it.

"No, thanks," Rose said, pulling hair tie out of her hair and shaking it, oblivious to anything going on around her. "Jake and I are hungry so we're going to head out."

"If you change your mind," Jordan called.

Rose picked up her bag and handed Jake his. "We won't but thank you for the good game!"

She looped her arm through Jake's and tugged him off.

"_We're _hungry?" Jake asked.

"I am," Rose replied, "I didn't figure that you wanted to stay with the two of them. Unless you did. In which case, you can go back, but I want to put on some real clothes and seek out dinner."

"Nah, you're my ride," Jake said, "I'm not going to ditch you now."

"I think you also like my company."

"You like mine."

He hadn't expected an honest answer from her, something dry and sarcastic was more the response that she'd give.

"Of course I do. Otherwise, I would have kicked you out by now. Now, think about what you want for dinner."

She drifted off into the girl's changing room and Jake went into his own, making quick work of pulling on jean shorts and a shirt. He fixed his hair quickly, applied new deodorant, and was waiting outside where she'd left him. He was looking around, taking in the places to eat. There were several family friendly spots but there were many more bars.

"Think of somewhere?" Rose asked, wearing a pink sundress.

"Do you have a fake I.D.?" Jake asked.

"Of course," she sniffed.

"Wait, _what_?" The answer should have been 'no'; Jake had been preparing to teach her how to sneak into a bar. "You've never been to the beach but _of course_ you have a fake I.D.?"

"Yes."

Jake stared at her face but there was no humour or mischief behind her eyes and she kept a straight expression on her face. He really didn't think that she was screwing with him which just made him all the more curious about who she really was.

"Want to go to a bar?"

"Sure. I've never had alcohol."

"Then, _why _do you have a fake?"

She shook her head, her loose hair sending the scent of sand and salt water into his face. "That's against the rules."

"You're the daughter of a mob boss," Jake said again. "You have to be."

Rose didn't give into the taunt, inclining her head casually. "If that's what you'd like to believe."

Even though it was a weekday, it was still summer, and most of the places were busy. They took their time, Rose telling him about the novel that she'd been reading while he'd been swimming and building sand castles, until they came upon Coco's Sunset Grille. It wasn't any less busy than the others but Rose decided that she had a good feeling about it.

"Your choice, you're paying," Jake reminded her.

"Are you just using me?" Rose asked but Jake was starting to recognize the slight difference in her tone when she was teasing him.

"Obviously."

"Table for two?" the waitress asked. "I think we can squeeze two in …"

She gestured for them to follow. Jake and Rose were squeezed into a small table on the balcony, overlooking the dock and the ocean itself, boats coming in now that the light was low.

"So, you drink, I'm guessing," Rose said. "You talked about parties and stuff."

"And being drunk eating waffles. Which, is still the best way to eat waffles but sober waffles can also change your life."

"What do you think I'm going to like?"

"I don't know. You want hard liquor, wine?" Jake leant his elbows on the table. "You have to do a shot with me."

"I'll try it," Rose said. "I've heard that alcohol doesn't usually taste good on its own."

Jake shrugged. "Guess it depends on what you're drinking. But if you don't want to taste it, maybe try a cocktail."

Rose flipped around in her menu.

"Dragon Fruit Vodka?" she asked. "Orange Whipped Cream Vodka? This is more than I was expecting."

"Both of those sound really good," Jake said, but he wasn't really a vodka drinker. He showed up to parties with a handle of rum for he and Spud while Trixie liked to say she was sophisticated because she drank whiskey. Never mind that she could only ever afford the cheap stuff.

"Hi! Can I start you off with some drinks?"

"MoJoCoCo," Rose said slowly.

"And I'll have a Funky Monkey and then two tequila shots."

"Sure, can I see some I.D.?"

Once their fakes had passed their waitress' inspection and she walked away, Jake grabbed Rose's off the table. It was good. _Really _good. It was even a New York driver's licence. Jake's was a Mississippi one.

"Let me see your real one," Jake said. "I want to compare."

Rose pulled it out of her pink leather wallet and Jake held the two up to one another. They looked _exactly _the same – same last name, same photograph, same information but for the birth year.

"Well, well, Rose Dawson."

"It's made-up too," Rose said, reaching out to take both licenses from his hands.

"You just don't want to admit that I know your last name when I don't know yours," Jake said.

"Long," she said. "I saw your real one when you bought lunch. I just wasn't going to rub it in."

"Smart ass," Jake said. "Fine."

Drinks were placed on the table, food was ordered, and then Rose looked hesitantly at her shot.

"You take it all at once," Jake said, anticipating her question. "Just throw it back."

"It smells like …" Rose sniffed it. "I don't know how to describe it."

"Yep, it does. Drink it anyway."

They clinked their glasses over the table and then took their shots. Jake slammed his glass back down on the table but Rose kept hers in her hand, staring at it.

"My throat is burning. I feel that in my lungs!"

"The joys of tequila," Jake said. "The first time I tried it I gagged like crazy. My friend thought I was going to be sick all over her."

Not that Trixie had ever let Jake live it down either.

Rose studied him seriously for a moment but then, instead of saying anything, she picked up her cocktail and took a small sip through its straw.

"This is a lot better," she declared. "I could drink a lot of these and still like them, I think."

"Nothing stopping us from drinking all night. We can sleep on the beach or in the car –"

"Or try to get a room before I try to sleep in a convertible," Rose said. "I'm five foot ten and that's not a big car."

"All right, be picky! If you want a real bed, we can try and find one of those too."

"Thanks! Can I try your drink?"

Jake passed the cup over. She sipped from his straw and then made a face.

"I don't like whatever's in that."

"Rum," Jake said. "We can do shots of that next, if you like."

"I have to eat something before I can even think about trying to drink more."

"Responsibility? On your first night of drinking? I won't stand for it!"

Rose rolled her eyes and stole one of his onion rings.

"Hey!"

"Not sorry," Rose said. "I didn't get onion rings."

"And whose choice was that!?"

"You're not going to be mad at me."

No, he wasn't. They ate and chatted, not about anything heavy, but about where they might go next and the places that Jake wanted to see around the country. They kept re-ordering drinks, even after their food was gone, and Jake even got another round of tequila shots on the table for the two of them.

"I just think that those gigantic yarn balls and stuff would be worth it to see," Jake said. "Dumb sure but world's biggest whatever, I'm _there_."

"Let me know when you see signs. If you want to go, we'll go." Rose stirred her drink. "There's only one thing I want."

"What?" Jake asked, wanting to know something about who she was or where she had come from.

"You know, I want to dance."

"Alcohol will do that to you."

"We should find somewhere to dance."

Rose paid their bill with another pile of cash. They were allowed to carry their drinks from one drink to another on the island, which their waitress helpfully told them, and so they left Coco's. They were only halfway out the door when Rose started swaying.

"Are we dancing with no music?"

"No, I want music. Loud music," Rose said. "The kind where walls _shake_. I was never allowed to listen to music and now I want to feel it. Do you understand?"

"Were you Amish?"

Rose grabbed his hand, the edge of her arm brace chafing against his skin.

"That's against the rules!"

She was still holding onto his hands when they were carded, and let into, a dance club. Jake convinced her to have one more shot each before she dragged him out on the dance floor. They were surrounded by other people about their age and Jake could tell that he and Rose both were getting once-overs from the people that she shimmied past but Rose was oblivious to it. She grabbed both of Jake's hands and leant it close to his ear.

"I don't know how to dance!"

"Vodka will dance for you," Jake promised, "just let go."

And they did. She kept close to him, dragging him around whenever she wanted another shot or stationing him close to the bathroom so that she'd be able to find him again. But, most of the time, they were in the thick of the dancers. Rose didn't really know how to dance, throwing her arms and her legs around in a way that was completely unexpected of someone who looked as graceful as she did when she walked. Jake wished he had his phone to whip out and capture pictures of her, hair flying and her cheeks bright red. It was something that Jake tried to commit to memory, even though the lights were blurry from the alcohol and his eyes were moving faster than his brain was when it came to catching things. In the end, she came in flashes to him: her hair, framed by the multicoloured lights of the dance floor, the edge of her lips as she leant forward to say something incomprehensible in his ear, her hand, reaching out to take his one more time.

They shut the club down and, on the way, out, Jake had the presence of mind to catch the attention of the bouncer.

"Do you know a hotel or a motel or a sleeping place?"

"Atlantis Inn is probably the only place around that has a free room." The bouncer gave them strict instructions on how to get there and they wandered off.

Rose shivered. "It's colder than I want."

Jake snaked an arm around her shoulders, slowly, giving her time to shake him off. Instead, Rose leant into him.

"Are we friends?" she asked suddenly, "Or are you just a stranger in my car still?"

"I want to be your friend," Jake said. "I think we've spent enough hours together to be friends."

She beamed at him. "I've never had a friend either."

"Guess it's a night of firsts for you."

"I've liked all of them," Rose declared.

"There's going to be a hangover tomorrow and you can tell me how much you like that."

Rose laughed and Jake could tell that she didn't really believe him but she would, come morning.

Atlantis Inn had a room free to give to them and Jake and Rose didn't spend time asking too many questions. Rose took the key and stumbled off down the hall. When she swiped the room key and Jake hit the lights, they realized that there was only one double bed sitting in the middle of the modest room.

"I can sleep on the floor," Jake offered.

"No, don't be dumb, we're friends. I trust you." Rose dragged her beach bag behind her as she stumbled off to the bathroom. "Which might be dumb of me!"

"If I was going to kill you, I would've done it last night."

The bathroom door shut which could have been agreement or disagreement. Jake turned out the light, tugged his clothing off, leaving it where it fell on the floor. He crawled under the covers, making a conscious effort to stay to one side of the bed, although he desperately wanted to spread out from corner to corner, faceplant into a pillow, and not move for several hours.

The bathroom door creaked.

"Oh! The lights are out!"

"That's what happen when people to go to bed."

She stumbled across the floor and then the bed dipped as she hit it.

"No funny business, Jake."

"Just go to bed, Rose, I promise you'll wake up in the morning."

"I believe you," she murmured, sounding half-asleep, "we're friends now."

Jake closed his eyes and let sleep take him immediately.

(-.-)

Fu tied a bandage around Lao Shi's arm and then pulled the sleeve down. Lao Shi shook his arm irritably and sniffed.

"I detest the smell of that poultice."

"Well, if you hadn't gotten bitten –"

"Bah, enough," Lao Shi snapped.

Fu backed down, like he always did when he knew that they were getting too close to straying to the subject of Jake. The kid had been gone a week and Fu knew that Lao Shi and Jake's parents had been expecting a call by now. Fu was as unsurprised as Haley was. Jake wasn't one to back down from things; once his mind was on something, it stayed there. Just as something big had made Jake take off, something big would have to make Jake come back. Fu didn't know if it meant that he had to defend himself against something on the road or an internal breakthrough happened. Fu just knew it probably wouldn't happen quickly and while he wanted to support Jake in finding himself, he wanted Jake to know what kind of toll it was taking on Lao Shi.

But, Jake wasn't a dumb kid, anymore. Jake knew exactly what he was leaving behind and he'd chosen to go anyway.

"Message."

Fu turned as Lao Shi greeted the old messenger fairy.

"Yes, let's hear it."

"From the Dragon Council," she said in her ragged voice. "Councillor Andam will be arriving on Thursday morning, ten a.m. Please be ready and waiting for a confidential discussion."

"Thank you," Lao Shi said. The fairy blinked away and then Lao Shi frowned. "Fu! We must clean up!"

"Why's he coming? What could he possibly want?"

"If he is leaving the island to come and speak with us, it must be a grave matter indeed." Lao Shi cut across the floor, gazing out the window.

"Do you think they've heard of Jake's disappearance?"

"Even if they did, it is not something for him to come in person to discuss. Besides, I have taken precautions."

A darker thought occurred to Fu. "Do you think something happened to Jake? Something that we don't know about?"

"No, I don't see how it is possible. I have sent word out that the American Dragon is travelling and for magical creatures to be sure to greet him if they see him. I did not want anyone to know that he was gone but it would be hard to miss. I thought … This was the best way. And if magical creatures are communicating with him, maybe he'll want to come back." Lao Shi sighed. "It is not that simple but I wish that it was."

"So, what you're saying is, nothing could have happened to Jake without someone noticing it?"

Lao Shi shook his head. "There hasn't been a whisper of a dragon anywhere. I don't know where he is or what he's doing."

Which didn't rule out that something had happened to a human and no one magic had been around to sense that he was something more.

"Never mind that now," Lao Shi said. The words were casual but his voice was tight and Fu knew not to push it. "We must prepare for Andam's arrival."

**So Lao Shi's not having fun but when has that grumpy old man ever?**

**Let me know what you think of the chapter and don't forget that you can find me on tumblr: we - are - all - of - legend - now!**

**~TLL~**


	4. Where You Go

"No," Rose said, shoving the map back toward Jake. "That takes us back toward New York."

"So? It's taken us a _week _to get from Georgia to New Orleans. We can roam around all we please. We can go to Kentucky and see a horse race. That's not too close to New York. Plus, anyone looking for us is going to think we're in, like, Colorado or something if we're just booking it across the country. They won't be looking for us at a horse race."

"Do horse races even happen all the time or is it, like, one big race and that's it?"

"They have to practice. We'll see a horse. Hey, we might even be able to find somewhere that would let us ride a horse."

Rose sipped at her water and chased the last few bites of her gumbo around the bowl. "Why do you want to ride a horse?"

"Because I never have. You've gotten plenty of firsts – drunk, for one –"

"And first hangover!" Rose said. "Don't remind me. I'm never drinking again."

"People always say that until they end up drinking again. We can crash a house party somewhere between here and Kentucky."

Rose sighed but she was starting to recognize that determined look of his. It fit his heavy eyebrows and his strong jaw. Rose had dreamt of tracing that jaw with her tongue last night which had caused her to wake up at four a.m. in her single bed, thinking of that drunken night where they'd woken in a double, wrapped around one another and the complete lack of strangeness there had been to doing so.

"Why do you want to go to Kentucky? Really," she said, reaching for the map once again.

"We blitzed Pennsylvania, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina. We just started enjoying things when we got to Georgia. And Alabama –"

"Was bad," Rose interrupted. "Don't tell me you found _anything _interesting about Alabama."

"There's … history."

Rose rolled her eyes.

"Fine, yes, it's been the deadest state. But, that's where I got my camera and you got that little white dress that I'm high-key obsessed with."

"Why?" Rose asked. It was just a _dress_. "Did you want to borrow it?"

Jake shook his head.

"And, I high-key hate your camera." Rose had noticed that she was adding more slang into her vocabulary since meeting Jake. "You take pictures of everything."

"Someday, when you're old and in a wheelchair and you have kids –"

"I'm never having kids," Rose said.

"Really? Never? Whatever. Your choice, I guess."

Rose itched at her arm brace.

"Anyway, someday, you will still end up old and possibly in a wheelchair and the only thing that you'll have left of this is these pictures. Don't you want them?"

"I have never seen a photograph of myself –"

"Amish," Jake said.

Rose skipped over the comment. Jake's two main theories about her past was that she was either from an Amish town or she was the daughter of an important mob boss. Or, in his more confused moments, combined the two.

"I just don't know if I'd like it. I can't imagine it's a pleasant experience."

"It's not the nineties anymore, Rose, it's a digital camera. You can look whenever you want."

"I don't want. Look at the map, please."

"Only if you say we can go to Kentucky. Just to see. Just to _experience_."

Then, there were times that the seriousness left him and he looked like an overjoyed child. It was these moments that always ended up pulling Rose out of her serious nature and made her tell herself that she really wasn't on a mission any longer.

"Do you want to go back through Mississippi or do you want to see Arkansas?"

"Why not see Arkansas?" Jake said. "No reason anything to see the same thing twice. Look, we take a little detour here, through Tennessee – get some good whiskey –"

"Visit a distillery?"

"Oh, see, now we're just reading each other's minds." Jake grinned at her and Rose's heart did the odd thump in her chest when he looked at her that way. "We were destined to be road trip partners."

"And then we go to Kentucky and find a horse, for your enjoyment."

"I like what I like." Jake shrugged. "I left home to sniff to the flowers, you know, not go on a race."

"I'm not racing at all," Rose said. "Except my own mind. I'm actually glad that you're here to slow me down. Otherwise, I'd probably be somewhere in California by now, sitting on the beach, wondering what to do next, and not remembering any part of how I got there."

"So," Jake said, placing the camera on the table, "you're saying that _I _make this trip memorable?"

"Don't let that go to your head. I don't know what I'm doing with your ego as is." Jake was shaking his head but Rose already had an argument to back up her point, "Anyone who starts rapping five minutes after getting into a stranger's car has the _ultimate _confidence. You've peaked."

Jake smirked but stared down at his plate, slipping into those strange silences that she couldn't understand. Majority of the time, he was the one who was making jokes and carrying the soul of the conversations. She knew that there were parts of him that were foreign to her – they were week old friends, after all – but she still wanted to know what happened when he pulled away. She wanted to know if there was something she should stop saying or if he needed help, but every time she thought of asking, a voice in the back of her head told her that she would be breaking the golden rule by doing so. Wherever Jake went in his quiet, it was the thing that he was running away from. Rose knew it because she knew that she did the same thing sometimes.

"Well, if you'd let me play music …"

Rose shook her head.

"I'm wearing you down. I know I am."

He was but she wasn't going to admit it. She liked the fact that he felt like he had to compensate for the quiet by talking. Mostly about music, sometimes something personal like his little sister, but most of the time it was random opinions. Did she like sauerkraut? He had mixed views on the value of the colour yellow. If she _had _to get a tattoo, what would it be of? The first time he'd been grounded, he'd been ten. She felt like she knew him, on some strange in between level, where she didn't know everything about him but she knew more than the surface.

"All right, let's hit the road." Jake stretched his arms. "I don't know how I'm ever going to go back to standing still after this."

"You're going to go back to standing still?" Rose asked, pulling out her wallet and counting cash for the bill.

"Eventually. I mean, I don't know where I'll stop but, what, I'm going to wander for the next seventy years?"

"Why not? There's a big world out there," Rose said. "Come on, let's go."

"So, what? Where are you headed?"

"I don't know. I'll cover the continental U.S. and then maybe Hawaii and Alaska. Go through and cover Canada or maybe down to Mexico. Take a boat across the Atlantic and end up in Europe. Backpack through Asia. Or there's Australia, South America. Hey, I could even go to Antarctica." Rose unlocked the car. "Why stop when I haven't seen it all?"

"Amish," Jake said. "Amish attitude."

"Amish in the middle of New York City?"

Jake shrugged. "I'd believe anything exists in New York."

They got in the car and Rose started the ignition, glancing over at him. He was wearing a black muscle top today and the tattoo kept drawing her eye.

"Even dragons?"

Jake started. "What about dragons?"

"Would you believe they exist in New York?"

Rose kept her eyes on the road and listened to Jake's long sigh.

"Stuff like that doesn't exist anywhere," he said scornfully. "I meant real stuff."

"You don't believe in ghosts and monsters and creatures?"

"No. Keep going straight for a while." Jake rustled the map aggressively. "Don't tell me you do?"

Rose tapped her fingers on the steering wheel, hating herself for even asking. She hadn't known what she expected him to say but the topic was making her stomach hurt.

"It depends on how you look at things! Of course, dragons exist in New York – otherwise your tattoo couldn't have made it in to the city."

Jake groaned. "Dumb riddle."

"It wasn't a riddle," Rose insisted. She just regretted her words. "You just think too literally."

"Thank you, Master Fortune Cookie."

"I've never had a fortune cookie."

"Cheap and greasy Americanized Chinese food will be next on our list of food stops," Jake said, reclining his seat. "Aren't you going to put the top down?"

"It looks like rain."

"So, what? We can put the top back up and even if we don't, we're not going to melt."

Rose shook her head and then she dropped the top on the convertible as they sped away.

(-.-)

The Huntsmaster was not a man who admitted defeat. He was not a man who was used to being thwarted at all. During his long Clan life, he had been the underdog. The weak Huntsboy, who had been picked on by others, who was told that he would never live up to the expectations set by Huntsteachers. As they forced him into the dirt over and over again, he had vowed to himself that he would be strong enough to fight back one day; that he wouldn't wait and he would fight for it. The world owed him this but he knew he couldn't sit and wait.

So, he worked. He trained. He lost his last fight when he was just barely over fifteen years old. He had been on top of the world ever since.

Until now.

The Huntsgirl was gone. He was standing in the middle of nowhere North Carolina. Despite his wandering and all of his tracking, this was the last place that he was sure she had been. He had a lot at his disposal to help find her but she had vanished. Everything led him back to this road in Charlotte, where she could have gone right or left or straight or might even still be on the block. It didn't matter. He couldn't find her and he was due back in New York. It wasn't like him to leave his post in their Huntsquarters and people were starting to get suspicious.

So, he returned to his office.

He picked up the phone.

"Announcement room, Huntsgirl 18 speaking, how can I help you?"

"This is the Huntsmaster. Let it be known to all Huntsclan that the Huntsgirl has been kidnapped. From now on, this is the _only _priority. We don't know by who or what but we know that it must be powerful, and likely magical, to overtake her. All Clan members must use extreme caution when pursuing her but shame on any Clan member that does not hunt for her."

There was a long pause.

"Sir?" Huntsgirl 18 said. "_The _Huntsgirl."

"Kidnapped, yes. Any magical creature is considered a suspect."

The Huntsmaster was irritated that he wasn't being followed immediately and he closed his eyes, trying to understand. The Huntsgirl was infallible; she was his right hand. Of course, there would be fear and there would be hesitation. It was normal and it was human. But not in his Clan, not for his people.

"Make. The. Announcement."

"Yes, Master. Right away, Master."

He replaced the phone on his desk and then he went to his window, looking out over the city. She wasn't here. She had _left _him. The alarms started sounding over the Huntsclan and he could picture how they would ready themselves for the Hunt. Still, the Huntsmaster had trained the Huntsgirl himself. She was smarter than any of her contemporaries. If she wanted to disappear, she could, and they would never find a trace of her.

He was determined not to let that happen.

**Wash your hands, stay inside, and stay safe during this virus! I know we're in scary times right now but let's all remain calm and cautious. This has been my soap box bit – but I meant every word of it. I am currently not quarantined (my job is operational and I am there six days a week now for ten hour stretches. Who knew liquor was an essential service?) but I wanted to make sure that there was a little sense of normalcy and get the weekly update out to you!**

**Let me know what you think of the chapter and don't forget that you can find me on tumblr: we - are - all - of - legend - now!**

**~TLL~**


	5. Let Your Heart Hold Fast

It was nine at night on a Saturday night and Jake was in yet another dingy motel room. He was starting to mind the rooms less and less but it was a summer Saturday night and he didn't want to spend it cooped up. Rose was sitting at the creaky desk, steadfastly painting her fingernails and toenails bright red.

"What's the plan for tonight?"

"Plan?" Rose asked, capping her nail polish.

"Yeah. We can't spend Friday night inside!"

"Okay," Rose agreed. "What do you want to do?"

"Hit up a liquor store," Jake said, ignoring the look on her face, "and then crash a house party."

"You want to break into someone's house?"

"It's not breaking in if they're having a party. C'mon. It'll be fun and I _know _you've never been to a house party."

"But I have broken into a house before."

Jake leant against the desk and Rose indignantly moved her feet. He searched her face but, as always, her expressions gave nothing away. Hardened criminals were more expressive than Rose was half the time.

"Great. So you know how to run away if someone does get mad at us for crashing their party. In my experience, no one actually cares."

Rose opened her mouth and then she quickly shut it, looking away from him to study her nails.

"What? You nervous?"

"No," Rose said. "I almost asked you a question I shouldn't."

"If you break the rules first, that means I get to break them whenever I want." Jake had to admit that he dangled bits of his former life out just to see if she would crack first, ask him a few questions so that he could ask her a few more questions. Jake knew that his past was strange but the things that Rose dropped seemed even more odd.

"And that's why I didn't ask the question," Rose said. "If we're drinking tonight, promise me that you'll figure something out that actually tastes good."

"Straight vodka, got it."

"I hate you," Rose said without skipping a beat. She blew on her fingernails and Jake watched the shape that her pink lips made.

"Nah, you don't. Otherwise, you'd have kicked me out of your car by now."

"Who says I won't be gone come morning?" Rose said.

Jake leant on the desk, into her personal space. She looked up at him, on the verge of issuing a challenge, but she didn't push him away.

"I say," Jake said. "Come on. Tequila. You'll love it."

Rose tapped her toenail. "I guess there's nothing stopping me."

Jake pumped his fist in the air. "Yes! Come on. Also, wear the white dress."

She stared blankly at him, blinking her blue eyes in the picture of innocence. "Why?"

"No one says no to a pretty girl in a dress," Jake said. Which was true. But, also, he liked the way the skirt teased her tanned thighs and dipped to her cleavage, like Marilyn Monroe's iconic gown.

Rose tilted her head back. "You like me in the dress, admit it."

"You're hot. Especially hot in that dress." Jake took a chance and rested a hand against her shoulder. "I _know _pretty girls."

Rose shook him off, leaving the desk to look at the single mirror in the hotel room. Jake followed her as she looked at herself in the bathroom mirror, pressing her hands to her face.

"I've never been a pretty girl."

Rose didn't wear a lot of make-up, if any. Jake had never caught her applying it. He didn't know enough about the subtleties of make-up to know if there was concealer on her chin or contour on her temples. What he did know was that there was nothing about her that wasn't appealing. It wasn't as though make-up created a pretty girl; she just _was. _The smiling curve of her lip, the swing of her hips, that doe-eyed expression that came over her whenever he mentioned anything pop-culture related. All of it was beautiful to him.

"You _are _a pretty girl," Jake insisted. "Come on, wear the dress."

Rose spun around to face him as she patted her nails gently. "All right, you win, but I'm getting changed alone."

Jake rolled his eyes, although good-naturedly. "If you insist."

"And, if I'm getting dressed up," Rose said, "you should too."

She shut the door in his face before he had a chance to respond, to explain to her that he had three shirts and two pants and no one looked at the guy anyway. But, he put on the cleanest of his shirt and pants, combed a little gel through his hair, and waited for her by the door. Rose appeared, her long blond hair falling down around her shoulders, and Jake thought that she must be experimenting with make-up a little bit; the lashes around her eyes looked longer and darker.

"I'd say I'm more dressed up," Rose said immediately, just like Jake had known that she would.

"This is as good as I'm getting so you just have to decide to be seen in public with me or not."

"If I say no, I won't get to go to the house party."

Jake raised his eyebrows. "So now you _want _to go?"

"I want to try new things," Rose said, slipping her purse strap over her shoulder. "That's what I wanted when I left New York and, for better or worse, being with you makes me try new things."

"I think you like me," Jake said as they headed out, Rose stopping to lock the room door behind them. "Even just a little bit."

"I admit nothing," Rose said, "and I'm trained to withstand torture so don't think that you're getting it out of me."

It was one of those times that Jake couldn't tell if she was kidding or not but decided it was one of those things that was better not to push. If she was really the daughter of a mob boss, she probably knew how to kill him with the slightest shift of her pinky and no dragon training would ever save him. Not that he _really _thought she was in the mob. Mostly.

At the liquor store, Jake went immediately for the hard liquor but Rose insisted on getting a six pack of some kind of vodka drink, insisting that because they were pink, they would be better. Jake knew it was in his bests interests to not say anything as they paid and set off on foot. As Jake had expected, it didn't take long for them to come across a house whose doors were open with music and people spilling onto the lawn. It was, Jake supposed, one of the perks of being in a small town instead of a city – less neighbours to complain.

"Hey," one of the girls smoking at the end of the driveway called out to Jake and Rose. "Are you two new? I don't recognize you."

"We're just passing through."

One of the other girls laughed. "Yeah, it's the only thing this town is good for. You want to stay for a couple of drinks?"

"Sure. I'm Jake and this is Rose."

Rose gave a little wave.

"I'm Paige, that's Emmy, and our hometown hater is Jennifer."

"This place is _boring,_" Jennifer reiterated. "I'm not smoking a pack a day because I've got better things to do."

"Do you want a smoke?" Emmy asked. "I'll trade you for a shot of your rum."

Jake glanced at Rose, who was standing outside of the smoke cloud.

"You can have a shot but we're good one the smokes."

He was sure that he'd regret it later. He wasn't really a smoker – Gramps' lecture on the importance of his physical health would have done him in – but after a night of drinking, he'd usually end up having one with Trixie and Spud, standing on a random street corner before they headed to their respective homes.

"Thanks," Emmy said brightly. "I'll meet you inside in a few."

As they left the trio behind, Rose heaved a sigh. "How do you do that!?"

"Do what?" Jake asked. It wasn't like he'd been breathing fire.

"Talk to people like that. Like it's easy."

"It is easy."

"No, it's not. They're strangers."

"So were we."

"You were standing in the middle of the road! I had to at least yell at you."

Jake couldn't help but laugh. "I think you grew up in a box."

She rolled her eyes.

Jake hopped the two concrete steps to the house and then offered her his hand.

"Come on, let's go have some fun. I might even teach you how to talk to people."

Rose rolled her eyes again but this time there was a hint of a smile on her face. She put her hand in his and he led her into the chaos of a house party. As Jake usually did, he went straight for the kitchen where the talkers hung out near the keg. The music was less intrusive too.

"I know you?" asked a guy, perched near the open window with a joint.

Jake had clearly under-estimated how small of a town they were in.

"We're waiting on Emmy," Jake said.

A girl in the corner laughed. "Oh, Emmy! You know, you better watch your drinks!"

"More like your girlfriend," one of the other men spat.

The stoner snorted. "Take a puff, Albert, and stop being so salty. Leslie was going to sleep with whoever she pleased and you were _not _going to grow old together!"

Jake glanced at Rose, who didn't so much as blink at the girlfriend comment. Instead, she hopped up on the counter like the guy across from her. Jake picked up one of the red solo cups and splashed rum and coke into it and then leant against Rose's side.

Albert was still pulling faces.

"We're just saying, Emmy's a wild child."

"You'd think it would be Jen," the stoner said. "But it's not."

"They're all crazy," the girl warned and then she introduced herself as Chantal. Jake and Rose introduced themselves back.

Rose popped the top of her cooler can and took a long swig.

"Pace yourself," Jake said, "or you're going to be hungover again."

Rose leant down and said quietly in his ear, "Didn't you hear? You're my boyfriend, not my father. I thought you were the one that wanted to have fun tonight."

"Yeah, but if I keep lecturing you, will you call me Daddy?"

"No, but I'll pour my drink over your head."

Jake laughed and they got pulled back into the flow of small-town conversation. Emmy did eventually come in to collect on her rum which prompted Albert to storm past her and leave the kitchen completely. She hardly seemed to notice him and, this time, Jake noticed that while Emmy spoked to him, she was watching Rose. Something that Rose seemed to be oblivious to. She didn't seem uncomfortable or on edge sitting on the counter but she also made no real attempt to be social, only speaking to the people around her when she was spoken to. Rather, she drank and observed, occasionally leaning down to whisper comments in his ear. People flowed in and out of the kitchen, sometimes just to visit the keg and other times to stay and chat. As the hours whiled away, Jake's rum disappeared and so did Rose's drinks. He was still standing but completely leaning on her for support and her arm was thrown around his neck. Even as she sat, she swayed from side to side.

When the night was blurry around him, Rose put her lips against his ear, causing goosebumps to erupt all over his body.

"Maybe we should go."

Jake turned his head and her face was right _there_, closer than it had ever been before. He glanced at her eyes but then he couldn't look at anything other than her lips.

"Yeah, maybe we should," he agreed.

Was he drunk or was she closer? Maybe it was both. There was no reason that it couldn't be both. But, then, he wasn't imagining it, because Rose's lips hesitantly brushed his own. He knew that that the chances that she'd been kissed before were low and he remembered his first kiss and the way that he'd moved slowly. His hand moved to the outside of her leg as he leant into her, her hair falling over her shoulder as she kissed him again.

"Oh, get a room!" said a loud voice that Jake was sure was Albert but he didn't care. He wasn't going to see any of them again.

"If someone isn't making out in the kitchen, we're partying wrong," said Chantal.

"Maybe we should go," Rose said again.

Jake nodded, savouring the taste of her vodka coolers on his lips. She slid from the counter, unsteady on her feet.

"Oooh," came a chorus from behind him and a, "have a good night!"

The cool night air wasn't sobering in the least. Rose was giggling and laughing, marvelling at the stars. It had been many nights since they had left New York behind but, still, every time they were outside at night, she was looking up at the stars. Jake took her hand as she talked and then she looked at him. They'd been travelling together long enough now that Jake could recognize nervousness on her face, like in the moment she decided to hit the gas on a yellow light.

"Maybe I shouldn't have kissed you like that," Rose blurted, as only drunks could do, "I didn't even ask! But I wanted to and I thought you were looking at me like you wanted to! I've never kissed anyone before but that doesn't mean that this has to get weird, does it?"

Rose stopped in front of the room door, like she wouldn't let him in if he said that it was going to get strange. But, Jake wasn't going to say that. Jake was so far away from saying that. He slid his hands against her waist and pulled her close, kissing her deeply. Somehow, she managed to get the door to the room open behind her and, whether they ever intended to or not, they slept in the same bed that night.

(-.-)

Lao Shi was drinking his morning tea while Fu Dog read the paper when Councillor Andam arrived through the open window. His dragon's body hit the floor with a thud before he turned back into a human. He looked worse for wear – his clothes were torn, his face was bruised, and Lao Shi could see several fresh scratches on his arms. He gasped for breath and Lao Shi simply asked Fu Dog to get another cup of tea. He knew that whatever Andam had to say was of the utmost importance, else he would have never travelled so far himself, but Lao Shi knew that he wouldn't get far and the conversation would be ripe with misunderstandings. He sat patiently and waited while Andam drank tea and devoured several pieces of toast.

Lao Shi could understand the appetite of a dragon too and Andam had clearly been travelling hard to get to him. Still, he began to grow impatient as the clock ticked past 10:15. He was almost at the point of say something when Andam panted out something so low and serious that Lao Shi had to ask him to repeat it.

Andam cleared his throat, looked Lao Shi in the eye and repeated, clearly so there would be no mistake, "The Dark Dragon has returned."

It took a moment for the words to settle in but, when they did, what Lao Shi felt was fear, down to the core of his being. He was the former Chinese Dragon and he was supposed to be better than that, faster that that, stronger than that. He had defeated the Dark Dragon a long time ago but that didn't mean that the awe of the Dark Dragon's might still didn't make him shiver, that there wasn't that bit of fear when he heard the other dragon's name.

"How?"

"The rest of the Dragon Council is still looking into it. Something shook loose the bonds that you placed on him back then. What we know is that he is heading for this country. I am here to assist you and Jake in tracking him down. You're the only one that's ever been able to defeat him and we thought perhaps your protegee could –"

"Jake's not even here," Lao Shi said quickly. "He is the American Dragon and so he is journeying this summer, seeing the magical community in the rest of the country."

Andam frowned and Lao Shi had to reign in his temper. Even if it weren't a ruse, it was a perfectly valid thing for Jake to be doing! And Lao Shi knew how to train a young dragon; Jake was better than most that he came up against, Lao Shi had made sure of it. Lao Shi had faced the worst of the evils that the world had to offer and he while he had always hoped that Jake would never have to come eye to eye with the Dark Dragon, he had always operated as if it would be a possibility. Better to have him overprepared than to be caught unaware. Now, Lao Shi had to hope that the Dark Dragon wasn't able to sneak up on Jake, that Jake really was as good as Lao Shi believed that he was. There would be no warning.

"Kulde and Omina are going to investigate to see how has escaped. I was sent to warn you and to stay here. We think there's a good chance he's coming to America for you."

Lao Shi agreed with the logic, although he was reluctant to agree with anything that the Dragon Council said.

"You are welcome to room with me, if you prefer?"

"No, thank you," Andam said and Lao Shi was relieved. He was comfortable with the life he led with no one but Fu Dog; they were so accustomed to one another's routines now that even with their different temperaments, they hardly ever argued. "I've made arrangements with the magical hotel. I want to get a start on informing the community of ways to protect themselves."

"I don't think it's wise to tell the community that the Dark Dragon is free."

Andam waved his hand dismissively. "No, of course we aren't going to do that until it's absolutely necessary but since your grandson isn't here to perform his duties –"

"Jake is performing his duties in another capacity."

"I meant perform his duties _here_," Andam clarified. He was polite and dignified, nothing in his tone or words that Lao Shi could pick a fight about but Lao Shi knew what the true meaning of the words were. "I'm saying that I'm here to assist you in whatever way possible and I think that saying that the Council is flying around the globe and presenting new safety procedures is a good way to keep panic down."

"I agree," Lao Shi said. It was clearly what he was meant to do.

"Good." Andam put his tea cup down. "Thank you for the drink. We'll keep each other informed and I'll see you soon, right?"

Lao Shi nodded and then Andam transformed, leaving through the window again. Fu glanced at Lao Shi.

"We have to tell the kid the Dark Dragon is on the loose."

"How are we supposed to do that?" Lao Shi asked.

Jake was on his own, just as he had chosen to be.

**Happy Wednesday, guys! I am so sorry about the silence. I've been trying to find time to sit down and work on this but I just haven't had the motivation to write recently – work has me so burnt out. I know it's not a Thursday but I figured after the lack of updates, update day doesn't really matter. Know that I'm thinking about you and this story and I'm determined to see it done!**

**Let me know what you think of the chapter and don't forget that you can find me on tumblr: we - are - all - of - legend - now!**

**~TLL~**


	6. New Beginnings

Rose woke early, as was normal for her. It was a habit that she didn't want to break from her other life. Even on this road trip, she usually liked to go for a jog in the mornings, do yoga, or some other sort of workout to keep up her physical strength. That was what was normal. This morning, though, wasn't normal. Because she was _naked _and she knew that there was no one else that could be asleep next to her. It had to be Jake. Of course it was Jake. And she could feel that he was naked too.

Rose turned over slowly. She didn't often sleep on her side but last night, she had. She remembered kissing him. She remembered getting back to their hotel room. She remembered that he had a little of his rum left and they had split it between the two of them. He'd kissed her neck and then poured the rum into his mouth and Rose knew she'd laughed and then tore his shirt off. After that, it was just a blur of drinking, kissing, and a wild mish-mash of her body and his. Rose could still feel her lips burn. In a good way. Or, at least what she thought was a good way. She'd never done any of this before; she'd never felt like this before.

When she turned over, Jake was still asleep. One of his arms was underneath of her body and as she shifted, he did too, his other arm falling across her waist. Strangely, she didn't feel trapped.

Even still, Rose wasn't sure how to feel. The only thing that came to her was that she should get up. Maybe, even though she knew she'd had too much to drink last night, a morning jog _would _make her feel better. But, when she went to sit up, Jake's arms tightened around her, pulling her body back into his. Rose knew she could have broken his sleepy hold easily but she didn't want to, falling back on the mattress next to him. Rose inhaled as he snuggled his face against her shoulder blade, her body fitting into the curve of his. This was entirely new territory for her and she didn't know what she was supposed to be doing here.

"Don't get up," Jake whispered, "it's too early."

"But, I –"

"Checkout isn't until eleven," he said. "And we don't even have to check out. I mean … unless this is going to get weird."

"Weird how?" Rose asked. Even though her mouth was already dry, even though she wanted water, she felt her mouth dry off more. It was just a mere few weeks since she had met Jake and, already, he was something that she didn't think that she was ready to give up. Sure, in the beginning, she had thought about standing on the west coast alone, leaving him in some godforsaken small town with his thumb out, ready for the next driver to run him over. Now, though, the journey had evolved to absorb him – they were taking a side trip though Kentucky because he wanted to see a horse! She didn't want things to get weird but she had never been here before. She had never had sex before.

Did they _have _to get weird? Jake hadn't made it seem like they did.

"You know, sneaking out the morning after, never speaking to me again, becoming so closed-off that it forces me into jumping ship first, you know."

She _hadn't _known but she could visualize everything that he was saying and her mind automatically rejected it.

"I don't want you to jump ship," Rose said firmly but without giving away too much, "but I do want breakfast and we have to get up for that."

He moved his thumb across her stomach and Rose erupted into goosebumps.

"Get delivery," Jake suggested, and his hand shifted downward slightly, waiting for permission or denial. "And an extra night here."

Rose would have liked to have stayed there with him all day. She could remember the ecstasy when he'd touched her last night and she wanted to know what it felt like sober. Rose knew herself well enough to know that he wouldn't be able to distract her enough. They had never stopped somewhere for more than one night and for a reason. She didn't know if Jake was running from something physical or emotional but she was running from something physical and she knew it was chasing her.

"It's still early," Rose said. "We could get breakfast, have some … exercise, and be out of here by eleven."

She was glad he was spooning her back instead of facing her. She had no experience n this area and it was making her awkward. She'd made the barest of innuendos and still her cheeks flamed as if she'd been reading him erotica.

Jake kissed the back of her neck. "All right, you win."

The morning blurred by. Rose waited for the weirdness to set in but even after they'd showered and dressed, they were still laughing and talking like they'd been doing all along. Even this morning, when she'd been completely present and naked, they were laughing. When she was with Jake, the world didn't seem as roughshod and serious as she'd always been led to believe that it was.

She started down the long road that would eventually get them to Kentucky. The wind whistled by and Jake had his head tipped back, sunglasses on, but Rose knew he wasn't asleep. She tapped her fingers against the wheel and then said, "You can put some music on. If you want."

She kept her eyes locked firmly on the road. She didn't need to be looking at him to know how in disbelief he was.

"Really? Yes!" Immediately, he hit the power button on the radio. "If I had known that sex was the answer, I would have given you orgasms a long time ago."

"I probably would have broken your hand for trying."

Jake slid by a station and into the static again. "Yeah, I think you could be scary if you really wanted to be."

For all her life, Rose's reputation had been her fierceness. If there was one thing that anyone knew of her, it was her ability to get the job done, no matter what the job might be. The part of her who had revelled in that bristled at Jake's words – _of course _she was scary; didn't he know who she was? But, most of her was pleased. She'd run from New York because she didn't want to be that person anymore. She'd wanted to be eighteen and have fun, be any girl in any car. She didn't have to be scary; she could become whatever she wanted.

"I _am _a black belt."

"So, mob, not Amish."

"Maybe it's none of the above," Rose said.

"I'll figure out someday," Jake said, settling on a station.

He wouldn't. No human would. And he'd think her insane if she told him the truth. He'd probably launch himself out of the car, just to get away from her. Not that she'd ever tell. Not that she'd ever go back, either. And, as long as she kept the brace on her arm, she would never have to look at the permanent reminder of it.

"Well, that means you'll have to tell me if I did tell you," Jake said flippantly. "But, home just wasn't a place I could be. At least, for the next little while."

It seemed impossible that the summer wouldn't stretch into eternity and that she and Jake wouldn't just continue driving. Rose had been around temporary people all of her life; she had been a temporary person. Jake didn't feel like that to her. From the moment he'd climbed in, he hadn't felt like so much as an invader on what was supposed to be a solo trip. He had made her jealous of the life that she had been denied. A life where she could find her place and choose her people. It made her even more curious about Jake because, by all accounts, that was the life he'd left behind.

"I'd think it would be nice, to have somewhere to go back to," Rose said. "I guess that might be a part of this drive – for me, you know – to see if I can discover something worth going back to."

"Mmm … It is worth going back to. I just want it to be my choice, rather than staying there because I was comfortable or because I was expected to."

"Expectations are something I'm too familiar with."

It was the closest they had come to talking about their reasons for leaving. Rose could feel her walls going up. There wasn't more she could say or even wanted to. Luckily, she and Jake were on the same page.

"So, would you rather go barefoot forever or have to wear high heels?"

"High heels. Would you rather stay single until you died or be with your first girlfriend?"

They played their game and talked through the drive, going back to where they comfortable. Jake changed the radio stations and interrupted their conversations when she 'absolutely had to' hear a certain song. Rose admitted to herself – not to Jake, never to Jake – that it _was _nice to have music on.

When they got to the motel that night, she requested only one bed. She didn't look at Jake as she did so. She knew she wasn't overstepping when she did it but she was still relieved when, the moment they were in the bland room that was virtually indistinguishable from all the others, his hands were on her hips and she leant to kiss him, smiling.

It was more than she had hoped to have.

(-.-)

The Dark Dragon had made it to the east coast of the United States. Not that it mattered to him where he was. Every human-filled cesspool was all the same to him. Instead, it only mattered to him where he wasn't. He was a predator and his intended prey was not here, was not where they were supposed to be.

The Dark Dragon was large, even for a dragon, something he'd always taken as a sign of his superiority. He was the one who shook mountains as he landed, bent trees with the beat of his wings, he was the lord of land and air. He was unconquerable and he took pride in that. He could also sneak and be silent when the situation called for it, something that he also attributed to his prowess. Therefore, despite what those doddering fools at the Council thought, there was nothing that Andam could do and warning Lao Shi was fruitless. It would be nice to take a bite out of his old enemy but that was not what the Dark Dragon was here for.

He was here to put his ear to the ground, learning as much as he could from the little magical creatures that were on guard but not on guard enough to know that he was standing so close to them, overhearing everything they were saying. The American Dragon hadn't been spotted in New York for at least a month; Huntsclan operatives had seemingly been more present the entire time that he was gone. The one thing that the Dark Dragon had managed to discover, however, that no one else seemed to have realized that there was someone else missing. _The Huntsgirl_.

She hadn't been lighting up any radars, there was no chatter running from her or to her on the Huntsclan lines. When the Dark Dragon was hunting, he did he job thoroughly. He knew all of the major players, he knew who he was looking for, and he knew how to listen. He had all the tools he needed to know where to start hunting.

And, tonight, he would take off once more and be on the trail. There would be no failure.

**Hey, guys! So, not dead. Just dead tired. I'm not giving up on this story, I know how it ends and I want to be able to share that with you (sooner rather than later!) but things at work haven't calmed down and I feel like I've been overwhelmed on all sides for the past few months. I'm still trying to breathe through it and I just wanted to let you know I'm still alive on this end and thinking of you!**

**Let me know what you think of the chapter and don't forget that you can find me on tumblr: we - are - all - of - legend - now!**

**~TLL~**


	7. I'm With You

Jake pulled the sun visor down and frowned at his reflection, trying to ignore the sound of Rose laughing, even though she was impossible to ignore. Though, usually, it was for good reasons.

"I need a shower," he grumbled.

"_You _wanted to a ride a horse," Rose said through her giggles.

"Just start the car."

"Falling off a horse isn't the same thing."

"Rose, _please_."

Rose wasn't done. Instead, she brandished the camera. "I have a video of it! Maybe this camera wasn't such a bad idea."

"You're a terrible person."

"You're welcome to jump ship at any time," Rose reminded him. "You could always start walking."

"My tailbone is killing me," Jake said. "I'm not moving for, like, a week."

"Oh, come on. We've got a lot of dead space between here and Vegas. We'll find some of those gigantic yarn balls and –"

"All I care about right now is a hot tub."

Rose started the car. "You're so needy."

Jake snorted. "And you're deleting that video."

"What, the one of you thinking you're a cowboy and then finding yourself face first in the dirt? I don't think so."

They left the horse stables behind and Jake tried not to glare at it before it disappeared. Children safely went on trail rides! He had done a thousand things more dangerous than getting on the back of a horse. Rose had sat elegantly on the black one that she'd been given while Jake had ended up face first in the dirt within five minutes of putting himself in the saddle. He'd good-naturedly climbed back up and they had gone on the trail ride but the longer he was sitting on the horse, the crankier he'd become. Then, trying to get off the damn thing, he'd stumbled and nearly put himself in the dirt, without the horse helping at all. It was the second one that had nearly put Rose over the edge.

"I'm thinking that I like this camera after all."

"No more live animals on this trip," Jake said, crossing his arms and then realizing it hurt his shoulders, let them fall into his lap. "It's a rule."

"Not even if we find a stray cat or puppy along the road and want to keep it?"

Jake snorted. "I've never had a pet and it's not like we have a backseat for it to hang out in."

"I've never had a pet either," Rose said. "I think that's the first thing that we've had in common!"

Rose sounded excited but Jake didn't care, really, that they had nothing in common. At first, Jake had liked Rose because there hadn't been so much as a thread of connection between them. New York was large and despite growing up in the same city, they hadn't so much as walked into the same pizza place. He had liked that they couldn't even agree if peanut butter or jam was better on toast. Now, it wasn't the reason he liked her, but it was still something he enjoyed about her. He would never had met someone like her if he'd stayed home and she was reason enough for Jake to feel like he'd made the right decision.

The sun was setting when Rose pulled into the parking lot of another motel. It looked pretty much like all the others – though this one was blue where the last one was yellow. Jake sat in the car a moment longer than Rose, waiting to feel something. They'd been driving around, taking their time and experiencing for weeks now. At some point, he'd been expecting to become tired of the constant moving, rotating through the same clothes, and really only speaking to Rose. He'd been expecting to become homesick for his friends and family and be drawn home by his love for them, his sense of duty, or his guilt that Gramps was having to pick up his slack. But, none of those feelings hit him as he got out of the car, holding his dingy backpack by one strap so he didn't have to pull it over his shoulders. He had forgotten what it was like to be sore and he definitely didn't miss that part.

Rose acquired a key and led the way to the room.

"Why don't you take a hot shower? It'll help with the soreness, I swear."

"Were you a high school athlete?" Jake asked.

"I was homeschooled. But, you need a shower no matter what. I'll go get us something to eat."

The room door swung open and, just as Jake expected now, there was only one large bed. It had just felt like a natural progression to his undefined relationship with Rose. Just like getting into her car, there hadn't been much discussion about it – they drove and talked and ate and, at night, they slept in the same bed. It was just a part of what they were.

"Or you could shower with me," Jake suggested, letting his bag fall to the floor so he could reach out to her, "and we can get food after."

His fingers reached the top of her arm brace and Rose jerked away from him.

"Can't take the brace off for that long," she said quickly. "Old injury, you know how it is. The amount of time I spend driving doesn't really help either."

"You could always let me drive. I have a valid license!"

"Random guys on the side of the road don't get to drive the car!"

"Go find another random guy and see how he works out and then I promise I'll look really good in the driver's seat."

Rose laughed. "Only cute boys get to drive the car."

"Hey!"

Jake spun to face her and Rose devolved into helpless giggles.

"Enjoy your shower. I'm going to find some Chinese food." She kissed his cheek.

"The shitty kind?" Jake asked, kissing her cheek in return. "I told you that you'd like it."

"Mhmm."

She swept away and Jake took his shower. He heard Rose return near the end and he stayed under the flow of the warm water, hoping that Rose would come join him. Her mind was hard to change. So far, she'd back tracked on one thing: the music. The radio was never turned off now and Jake had probably killed hours on the road by sliding them out of static and into a local station. It made him want to turn his phone on and play his own music.

Jake pulled his clothes on, thinking they'd have to find a laundromat soon.

"Did you eat all the egg rolls?" Jake asked when he stepped back into the room.

"There's one left," Rose said. "I'd grab it quickly if I were you. I find them addicting."

It was a quiet Wednesday night. They finished dinner and curled up in the bed, watching a sitcom. Jake groaned every time he moved and Rose slid behind him, massaging his shoulders with strong hands that felt like they were undoing knots that dated back to his first transformation.

"Where are we going next?" Rose asked.

Jake leant away from her hands with great reluctance to get their large collection of maps, tourist brochures, and library print-outs. While they waited for the clothes to finish at the laundromat, they usually tracked down a library to do some googling about attractions that they might be able to hit on the way and to guide them on whatever way that might be. He opened the map of Kentucky and the map of the United States before placing Rose's hands back on his shoulders.

"So, if we're trying to hit every state we possibly can, we should go to Indiana or Ohio next."

"Ohio's too close to New York. I'm _never _getting that close to there again."

Rose was, generally, a sweet person, Jake knew. She could be grumpy as she woke up and fumbled her way through her morning routine but she seemed herself by the time her hair was brushed and Jake handed her a cup of coffee. She could be sarcastic and witty but never malicious. Jake didn't believe she had a mean bone in her body. It was why the hatred and bitterness in her voice when she talked of New York always caught him off guard and made him curious. The more he got to know her, the more Jake wanted to ask, if only because she might give him some sort of answer. In the same vein, he wasn't sure that he even wanted that answer. If she was running away from abuse of some sort, would he want to know until she made the decision to tell him?

"So, it's Indiana then." Jake grabbed the Indiana brochure and flipped it open. "World's Largest Ball of Paint!"

"That's all that's in Indiana?"

"It's the first thing that caught my attention." Jake reached for the printed library pages. "There's catacombs in Indiana?"

"That's _way _too morbid sounding."

"Wanna go to jail? It's a rotary jail."

"That's where I'll leave you," Rose threatened, but she was also idly playing with his hair which took a lot of air out of her threat.

They picked out three destinations: a historic sweetshop, something called Gravity Hill – which Jake worried wasn't a natural phenomenon and he was putting himself at risk of being recognized – and the large paint ball. Then, Jake cleared the papers from the bed and snuggled into Rose again and fell asleep in her arms, feeling happy and peaceful.

(-.-)

As Susan did every morning, she checked the mailbox. She didn't remember the last time that Jake had written a letter, if he ever had. It didn't stop her from hoping that she would open the mailbox one day and there would be a letter or even a postcard from her son. As days turned into weeks and the weeks were evolving into a month, Susan's worry was only growing.

Jake's note hadn't said he'd write or phone or text or anything, at least until he knew he was 'ready'. She knew her son was headstrong, determined, and stubborn. She knew if he said he wasn't going to come home until he was ready, he would only be home then and not a moment before.

And, yet, when she woke up to no text on her phone and no letter in the mailbox, she felt betrayed.

This morning was no different. There was no word from Jake and Susan re-entered her warm, sunny kitchen where Jon was cooking breakfast. It was what he always did for her and the children on Sunday mornings and Susan could so clearly visualize Jake sitting at the table, barely alert and mumbling his responses.

It made her angry all over again – angry at him, angry at her father, and angry at herself. She wanted to rant and rage: didn't Jake love them? Didn't Jake understand that they missed him? It was everything that she had talked to death with Jon and nothing she wanted to say in front of Haley and, so, she held her tongue. Besides, it wasn't them that she wanted to talk to. But, her father seemed to be ignoring her. Most often, when she called, she got the glib voicemail of the electronics store. On the increasingly rare occasion that she actually got through, it was always Fu's voice on the other end of the line. He made excuses on why Lao Shi couldn't come to the phone, which was usually that Lao Shi was wiped out. Due to Jake's absence, he was putting in a lot of overtime – more than he could probably handle.

At first, it had made Susan sympathetic to her father and mad at Jake all over again. Now, Susan was mad at them both. Her son was missing, her father was the last person to have seen him, and was the only person who could possibly have any updated information. She needed to know if the Chinese Dragon had heard anything, even if Lao Shi had not.

But, there was nothing she could do about any of it in the moment, so she collapsed into the empty chair next to her daughter and let the silence reign.

**Still alive! I haven't been getting much writing done recently (my boyfriend was in an accident and I've been helping to take care of him but he's almost back to 100% again!) but I'm still kicking. I hope all of you are staying safe! Let me know what you think of the chapter!**

**Let me know what you think of the chapter and don't forget that you can find me on tumblr: we - are - all - of - legend - now!**

**~TLL~**


	8. Draw Me A Map

They were driving in silence again. For the first time, Jake had turned the music off and was freezing her out. Rose wasn't sure what had happened. They'd pulled into a gas station outside of Grant, Oklahoma, on their way to Texas. Reaching Texas would mean that they were halfway through their journey and Jake had memory cards full of photos to document it and they'd been in high spirits as Rose had gone into pay. Jake had followed her in, keeping up a running dialogue of whether the taste of an energy drink would ruin the flavour of the candy bar he was craving so did she think he should get a coffee instead? They'd had similar conversations before so Rose had just reminded him he always preferred the coffee in the end and that's when the counter clerk had spoken.

"Hey, you look familiar."

She'd been looking at Jake when she'd said it, but Rose hadn't thought anything of it. They weren't in a town they'd ever been in – never mind the fact that neither of them had ever been in the state before – and she knew for a fact there was no way that the pretty, dark-haired woman behind the counter had ever seen Jake before. But, Jake had gone pale and bolted out the door without even glancing at the chocolate he'd been so invested in.

It had been quiet ever since and it had really made Rose wonder. In retrospect, she probably would have reacted the same way if someone had said they knew who _she _was but she was a fugitive. Of sorts. Jake had always just given off the impression that he was a willing runaway.

Rose pulled into the first motel that she saw and they each collected their own bags, as was their habit. In a world where they shared everything else, anything in the bag was sacred. He ended up a few steps ahead of her as they went into the check in office and Rose was relieved he asked for their usual – a single bed. It meant that he wasn't avoiding her.

When they were clean and tucked into bed, Jake's arms curled around her, pulling her into him. She'd been far on her side of the bed, settled into what Jake called her 'corpse pose' which she didn't find as restful now that she new what it was like to sleep wrapped around Jake.

Rose turned so that her face was against Jake's chest. She didn't have to wait long before he spoke, opening up to her in hushed tones.

"I'm sorry. I freaked out back there but I shouldn't have frozen you out. My … my grandfather is really traditional and he …"

Jake's breath hitched and Rose ran her fingers across his bicep, visualizing the dragon tattoo she'd memorized. She waited patiently for him to start up again and finally the words came tumbling out.

"He's prolific in certain circles. It was always thought, well, expected, really that I would be the same way. Part of me liked it but I was so young when he started teaching me about it that I just … didn't see what the consequences would be and when the consequences happened, it was big. I needed to get away from him, away from that. I wanted my own perspective and I don't want to go home until I'm ready for everything that's waiting for me. I was just so scared that if she recognized me then word would get back to him and I'd be right back to where I was before I met you."

"Odds are, you just look like someone she knew," Rose said, trying to be comforting but not really knowing how. "And they won't know if we're coming from Texas or going to or literally any other direction. You don't have to be worried. You're safe with me."

Jake let out a little laugh and then wrapped her in a hug so tight that Rose was crushed against his chest. She hugged him back with all she had too.

"I feel safe with you," Jake assured her.

"You are," Rose said, thinking that she could never tell him just how safe he was. But, he had shared something with her: been more vulnerable with her than she ever would have expected. It made her realize that she wanted to be vulnerable with him in the same way. "I feel safe with you too."

He kissed her forehead and Rose took a deep breath.

"I'm not Amish. I'm not a mobster's daughter."

"You don't have to tell me anything because I told you –"

"I _want _to," Rose assured him, "I grew up in a cult, Jake. You were the first person I ever spoke to who _wasn't _in the cult. They wanted to make the outside world so scary – there was something big and bad coming that we had to be ready to fight against. People don't get to leave and that's why I can't go back to New York. They have long memories; I'd never be safe."

"A cult? In New York?"

Rose laughed despite herself, glad that his disbelief was able to pull her from her memories so quickly. "You thought there were Amish people in the middle of the city!"

"Well, yeah, but they're just people. I know I don't really watch the news but people would know about a cult, right?"

"No," Rose said. "You wouldn't. Not every cult makes the news, they just exist in whatever crazy sphere they've picked to be theirs. And that's the worst part – they're just people too. Even so, they weren't people that I could stay with anymore or share beliefs with anymore."

Jake kissed her forehead. "I'm … I'm really glad that it was you that picked me up."

"Me too."

Jake rolled into her, Rose turning onto her back as he kissed her on the lips. She'd never been so vulnerable with another person in the so many ways that she'd been vulnerable with him and Rose found herself revelling in every minute of it. Just as she'd wanted to when she had first set out on the journey that might have, arguably, been a hairbrained venture, she was realizing who she was, who she was supposed to have been.

"What do you want to do tomorrow?"

"Rodeo, obviously," Jake said. "We are in Texas. But I don't want to talk about tomorrow. Let's stay focused on tonight."

He was convincing and they stayed up late, wrapped up in one another. When the sun was shining into the room the next morning, Rose didn't want to get up. It was probably the first time in her life that she could have juts laid in bed and been lazy all day. She couldn't let herself, though. She wasn't here to stare at the same four walls. She pulled herself up and Jake groaned, rolling over.

"Bring coffee on your way back," he grunted, and then his head went under the pillow.

Rose went for her jog and picked up their coffees. On her way back, she started to notice how busy the streets were. Maybe it wasn't unusual for small town Texas to have that many cars on the road but it looked like every resident must have been out. She walked slowly back to the motel room, trying to figure out what was going on. There was also a crackling energy in the air – the people in the cars seemed to be excited. It felt to Rose that something _had _to be going on. She was nearly back to the motel when she caught sight of the poster, announcing that this weekend was the town's rodeo. It was a two day affair and she could hear Jake crafting an argument about staying here for two days. Even though he didn't know about the rodeo yet, even though he knew how resistant she was to spending two nights in one place, Rose knew that Jake would want to be there when they crowned the rodeo queen.

She could just get them out of there and never mention the rodeo to Jake but that felt dishonest. She'd been honest about the fact when she was lying to him, however, and so she didn't think that she could look him in the eye and lie to him now. It was ironic, really, since she'd never been honest in her previous life. But, as she unlocked the door to their room, she realized that it was easier to be honest with strangers. Not that Jake was a stranger anymore, since she knew his frou-frou coffee order and the first sound he made in the morning when he stretched and all of the little things that he had let himself reveal. They were almost always talking – through the car rides and the slow moments before they fell asleep together – and so Rose could claim that she knew him. Probably in a different way than anyone else did. Perhaps not as well as the people that he had grown up with and had shared all of those experiences with, but in a different way that she could call her own.

She let herself back into their room where Jake was drying himself off with a towel.

"There's a rodeo in town this weekend," Rose said quickly, putting his coffee down on the desk. "I saw people driving in when I was on my way back."

"Oh, hell yes," Jake said. "Hey, do you think they'll let just anyone ride a bull?"

"You couldn't even stay on a horse that wasn't moving, I don't think that you should get on a bull."

Jake sipped his coffee and then tossed his towel to the side. Rose didn't even bother to avert her eyes. There was no shyness between the two of them anymore, which Rose loved. She had spent her entire life surrounded by people but isolated from them at the same time. It was so strange and so thrilling that there could be a human out there that she was so comfortable with. That she could be herself with. And it was the herself that she had wanted to discover when they left New York.

"Maybe a mechanical bull," Jake said. He quickly dressed and then picked his coffee back up. "Come on! Get ready! I want to go."

Rose took her sweet time with her morning routine, knowing how impatient Jake could be. She just didn't see much point to getting to the rodeo grounds early. They were probably still starting to get set up and who wanted to be the first one wandering around?

It was early afternoon by the time they reached the grounds. For a town that was so small, the rodeo was clearly a big deal. The grounds were crowded with the sounds of carnival rides, announcements with times of upcoming livestock events, and the chatter of people. It was the smell that was the most overwhelming for Rose – the sickly sweet scent of the candies and treats for sale didn't seem like it was something that would mix well with the smell of the animals and, yet, when Rose commented on it to Jake, he agreed that there was some kind of harmony to it all. They dined on hot dogs and cotton candy for their rodeo breakfast, eating it while wandering through the stables of livestock.

"I like this," Jake said. "It feels normal."

"Not in the middle of a city," Rose said, nodding at a pair of oxen who regarded her calmly. She was tempted to pet them, just to see if they would let her. She had always heard that animals knew more than humans did, could sense things about people that they would rather keep buried. She honestly just wanted to know if the relaxed animals would let her near them.

"You'd be surprised at what you can find in the middle of a city," Jake remarked cryptically. Rose searched his face for any hint of a deeper meaner but he just broke out into his easy smile. "I think we just ran in very different circles."

Rose couldn't disagree with that. "I don't know if we would have liked each other if we'd have met at any other point so I'm glad we did. I rather like you now, I – Hey! Jake, stop that. I take it back. I don't like you now."

Jake was still grinning, except now, _her _cotton candy was stuck on the edge of her lip. "I finished mine. And one of us can afford another and the other one of us is a useless bum."

"You're not entirely useless," Rose said. "You can always find a good radio station."

Jake laughed so loudly that a nearby horse flicked its ears back.

"If that's my only claim to fame on this road trip, I should probably hop off now."

Rose felt like the horse was giving her a side-eye and she kept walking, keeping her cotton candy close to her in case Jake turned into a thief again. Though she was sure that she would be able to stop him, now that she was on guard.

"What were you expecting me to say?" Rose asked.

"You could at least tell me I'm good in bed."

There were children running around and Rose carefully chose her words. She didn't have much experience with children but she knew that there were things that shouldn't be said in range of such little ears. She had been one of the children that had too much said to them too early.

"Realistically, I have no basis of comparison so –"

"_Rose_!" Jake exclaimed. "My ego will never recover if you finish that sentence."

He had enough ego to take a wounding, in Rose's opinion, but she didn't think that he really deserved one.

"Would you like to go on some of the rides?" she asked. "I've never been to the top of a Ferris Wheel."

"Nah." Jake waved his hand dismissively. "I mean, yes to the rides, but your first time on a Ferris Wheel should be when it's at night. That's when everything is at it's most beautiful and you deserve that."

He took her hand then and started talking about other rides, about events taking place in the exhibition arena later that were truly the point of having the weekend be called a rodeo. Rose watched his free hand wave animatedly as he spoke but she wasn't really listening to the words that he was saying. Instead, she was touched that he cared enough to want her to have the best view, to want her to have the best experience of something. While he was pointing at a ride that spun wildly and asking if she wanted to feel a thrill, Rose grabbed him and kissed him. His lips were sticky from the cotton candy but she didn't care about that, just as she didn't care about the crowds of people flowing around them.

Jake kissed her back until she felt breathless and her heart was hammering against her ribcage, and then he kissed her forehead, which left her with even more flutters.

"Come on, let's go for a ride."

Rose followed him, feeling as if it were finally safe to follow another person.

(-.-)

The Huntsmaster stared up at the night sky, feeling unsettled. He could hear the beat of dragon wings and he wished that it was the source of his discontent. From his well-concealed hiding place, the Huntsmaster sat and cursed – not simply because of a dragon but because he didn't know what dragon it _was_. For once, the Huntsmaster was desperately wishing to look up and see the red wings that he was familiar with, because there was a sense of rightness to the world when he knew what sort of foe he was about to come up against. There was a new player on the table, now, a brown dragon that seemed formidable – younger than the blue dragon, with more experience than the red one. He had become a common sight recently and the Huntsmaster resented it deeply. It made him feel as if there was something that he didn't know. It was something that he was sure that his Huntsgirl could have discovered – she had a way of blending in, of moving about in the world so unseen, and he mourned it every day.

He watched the brown dragon appear from overhead. A few of his bravest were trying valiantly to capture it – to find out where it came from and why it was here. The Huntsmaster watched them, half-disinterested. They were good warriors, they had proven themselves time and time again, but this dragon was not an enemy that they were used to and he had already figured out how they would fail. He wasn't interested in sharing that information – not in the slightest – and he barely watched their attempts. He needed more information but there didn't seem to be anymore information. Of course, and here he scoffed to himself, what could he hope that the Huntsclan could find out about this dragon when they couldn't even begin to figure out how to find one of their own?

As he expected, the brown dragon easily evaded his Huntsclan warriors, injuring several on his way out. The Huntsmaster turned his back on them and turned toward Huntsclan Headquarters, mourning his Huntsgirl with every step of the way.

(-.-)

Jake had never eaten so much or seen Rose eat so much, which was impressive, since she was usually the one who ate the lion's share. It reminded him of how he would eat when he was in training and was working out all the time. Not that the carnival fair they had been snacking on all day was the type of thing that he would have been allowed to eat while in training – Rose was a candy apple addict, for her usual lack of sweet tooth. She was finishing her last one of the night, as she'd said about the last one, as they finally were in the line for the Ferris wheel. There weren't many people left on the fairgrounds; the animals had been put away, many of the games closed up, and several rides had already been abandoned by their operators. He really hadn't meant to leave the Ferris wheel so last minute but there had been so much to see and do. Still, he wasn't going to let Rose _not _get her Ferris Wheel ride.

It was the perfect time of night to do it. The moon was out and bright and every single star was out. Jake was getting used to seeing the stars being out all the time, since they spent more time passing through small towns than they did in big cities, and he was wondering if he'd miss them when he went back to New York City. His gut tugged as he thought of it and he turned his attention back to the security bar that was being strapped over their laps. It wasn't time to go back to the city, not yet, he wasn't ready and he'd just end up running away again. He looked over at Rose who was rocking their carriage slightly and he also thought that he wasn't ready to give her up yet either. She wanted to be a nomad the rest of her life and once he walked away, how was he ever going to get to see her again? Deep down, he knew that the answer was that he _wasn't_.

The ride lurched and they were slowly moved backward.

"You scared?" Jake asked.

"No," she answered, in the same slightly arrogant tone that he knew she would. Rose rocked the carriage a little again, leaning to look at the ground disappearing beneath their feet. "Can I confess something?"

"Sure."

"One thing that I always wondered, and this is my guilty pleasure daydream," she warned him, "but I always wanted to know what it would be like to fly. Not, like, in an airplane but like a bird."

Jake clenched his hand around the safety bar, breathing in and out deeply and hoping she didn't notice. Rose was usually observant and the more than she got to know him, the more that he was called out on things. Tonight, she was looking at the ground and to the sky and swinging her feet. Jake was grateful for it. Wanting to fly was a normal wish and there were likely millions of people around the world who were longing to do the same. There was no way that he could explain to her that the thought of wings made his chest feel like it was going to cave in because the wings meant that he was supposed to be someone else, someone good, someone important, and he was neither important nor good.

"Why is that your biggest guilty pleasure wish?" he asked.

"Notions like that were extremely disapproved of," Rose said. "Any wishes at all, really. They told you what to wish."

Jake took her hand and squeezed it, not knowing what to say. But Rose didn't brood. Instead, her face lit up in a brilliant smile.

"You were right," she said, turning to look at him. "It was better to see this at night."

Jake leant over and kissed her gently, her hand tightening on his. She was so beautiful with her strange mix of innocence and deep knowledge, the grace that she moved with, and her never-ending curiousity. Jake couldn't remember the last time that he'd felt like this with another person, if he ever had. And, it slipped out before Jake meant for it to.

"Rose, I love you."

She whipped her head around so quickly that her long blonde hair slapped him across the face, but Jake barely blinked. The Ferris Wheel ground to a halt, leaving them at the very top, stuck in one another's company. Jake's heart thudded as he realized the consequences that could be coming. She could be about to leave him in Texas and he couldn't help but curse himself for being so stupid. He knew better – had watched friends and classmates over the years tell the summer fling that they loved them far too early, only for the one being told to take off. Jake watched Rose glance down and he thought that if she wanted off this Ferris Wheel now, she would find a way to get down. The sheer determination that she had was one of the things that he loved about her. And, he did love her. Maybe he shouldn't have said it but he did mean it.

"Why?" she asked.

"Because you're exactly you," Jake said. It was the one thing that he could think of to say. He didn't think he'd ever been asked _why _he loved someone before.

"Jake," she whispered and then she stopped and shook her head.

Her grip loosened on his hand but Jake didn't let go.

"You can say it if you feel it, if not, just know I do. You're … I'm glad I'm getting to spend this time with you, in particular that's all," Jake said awkwardly. "Know I feel it. Know someone loves you. That's all."

Rose inhaled sharply and then the Ferris Wheel started up again, taking them back down to the ground. Jake watched her but Rose was drinking in the view. He wished that she was easier to read, but most of the time, her face were a blank slate and her eyes were like a shut door. There was nothing in her body language that he could use to figure out if she was going to pick up her bag from their motel room, get in her car, and leave him standing there.

She kept a hold of his hand as the carriage glided down to the platform and the operator swung open the safety bar. They walked together in silence back toward their motel. When they were off the fairgrounds, Rose cleared her throat.

"I've never been loved, Jake, and I've never loved anyone. I don't know what any of it means."

"When you feel something like that, I think you just know," Jake said. "It just slipped out because I felt it so strongly."

Rose pulled him to a stop, staring into his eyes. "Tonight was amazing. And, I've really enjoying being with you. I didn't think I wanted to do this with anyone but I'm glad that I found you."

"I'm glad you found me too."

Jake's hand slid to the back of her neck and he pulled her in tightly for a kiss. She held onto him with all of her strength and he couldn't help but think that whether or not she loved him back, even if it had slipped out without his intending to, he meant it: he loved her. This weird girl who had almost run him over, who had slowly let him in and had found her way into the deepest parts of him. He wanted to spill everything to her, tell her the truth on why he ran away – something that he had barely admitted to himself in the deepest recesses in his mind.

"Come on," Rose said. "We've had a long day and we've got an early morning."

She took his hand, swinging it lightly between them as she led the way back to the hotel room. It wasn't an 'I love you' back but Jake didn't need that. She was just Rose and that was more than enough.

**Whoops, not dead! Sorry about regular updates, but I'm experiencing some severe burnout on my end. So, I've been working slowly and taking lots of bubble baths. I hope you are all keeping up with your self-care! I'll see you on the next update!**

**Let me know what you think of the chapter and don't forget that you can find me on tumblr: we - are - all - of - legend - now!**

**~TLL~**


	9. Heaven In Our Headlights

Rose couldn't help but be overwhelmed by the array of lights before her. Growing up in the middle of New York City, she was no stranger to bright lights and glamour, but Las Vegas was on an entirely different level than the one that she was used to. She glanced over at Jake in the passenger seat, who had his head tilted out the window like a curious dog would.

"This is what I've been waiting for!" he crowed. "Look at it!"

"Time to see how good our fakes really are," Rose said dryly.

"I wish I knew how to play poker," Jake said, taking a seat. "Where are we staying? One of the famous places?"

"I have no idea which ones are the 'famous places'," Rose said, "but when I was looking up places at that library in Utah, I liked the name _Treasure Island_. The reviews were good and we can afford it."

"Vegas, baby!" Jake cried. "Man, I've been dreaming of this place since we started driving! You know, you can smoke in the hotels, right?"

"Neither of us smoke."

"But, we have to smoke one inside, just for the novelty of it. There's nothing wrong with that, right?"

Rose snorted. "That's the gateway to addiction."

"You can't say that about smoking when you've been drinking," Jake said. "You can have one every once in a while and it won't a problem. I know you've learnt that."

He shook his finger at her and Rose just smirked as she maneuvered the car into a parking spot.

"Maybe one," Rose said, "but we'll see what happens."

They checked in. It was a nice room, lots of mirrors with a TV on the wall. But, Jake promptly threw open the windows. They weren't even remotely on the highest floor but they did have a room with the view. The sky was dark but Rose doubted that much of the stars would have been visible with the shining lights.

"What are we going to do first? Gamble? No. Drink, of course we should get a drink. There's got to be cheap cocktails _everywhere_. I guess it just depends on what kind of gimmick we're into tonight."

Rose laughed as Jake bounced around the room.

"Just don't touch the mini bar. We'll go stock up on snacks and stuff after."

"Gotta stock up the mini fridge too," Jake said. "We don't want to run out of supplies at three a.m."

"I doubt there will be a shortage of places to find liquor at three. Or any other time of the day," Rose said. "They call this place City of Sin for a reason."

Jake laughed.

"It's not like New York has a lot that's inaccessible," Rose said.

"I wouldn't know. It's hard to have access when you've got people like my grandfather and my parents always hanging out." Jake shrugged. "We're big on 'family time'. Which, my little sister thrives on but who wouldn't when you're the golden child?"

Rose paused, fingering the zipper on her bag. Every time she thought that she could open up to Jake, she always found a stumbling block when it came to opening her mouth. She had told him much bigger things before, and he could probably guess the thing she was about to tell him. But, sometimes, it still tripped her up so much to share things. She wasn't used to sharing so much of herself or feeling like she had much of herself to share.

"I was the golden child."

"You seem like a nerd," Jake agreed. "I mean, you've _told _me that you were a nerd so … I'd say it's not a big secret. How many kids did you have to beat out to be the golden child?"

"There were a fair few of us," Rose said. "Perhaps forty or so children."

"So, golden child," Jake said, "what do you say we go ruin your bad reputation?"

Rose took his hand. "Well, it's not like we can ruin yours."

"Hey, I'm wounded," Jake said, but all of his dramatics couldn't cover the smile in his eyes as they left the hotel.

(-.-)

Haley felt awkward and she picked at her skirt, trying not to show it. She had thought that this would help her deal with the fact that Jake _still _wasn't here, like the therapy her parents went to once a week and that she had tried to make work for her. Haley knew that it was something that she needed and she was smart enough to know how therapy could help and she was also smart enough to know how she needed it but every time she sat down across from Sharon – who was perfectly nice and exactly what one would need from a therapist – Haley found that she just couldn't get her mouth to open. She felt like she needed to talk, she _wanted _to talk, but she couldn't talk to her parents and she found herself getting annoyed by her friends who tried to understand and her friends who didn't bother to try to understand. That, logically, had led her to seek out Jake's friends.

Trixie and Spud hadn't said no to seeing her, just as Haley had expected. She was something like a little sister to the both of them, with how much time they had all spent together. Well, they had spent with Jake and she had spent trying to get in their way. She was older now, old enough at least to not be as annoying as she was when she was younger. At least, that was her hope.

"We'd have told you, Haley, if we had heard from Jake," Trixie said.

"I know _that_." Haley stared down at her fries. She knew that Mom had talked to Trixie and Spud; she knew that Gramps had interrogated them as he would a Huntsclan member. They had stuck to their guns – no, they didn't know anything. No, they'd been trying to reach Jake too. Except, and it was a lingering concern of Haley's as well as one that her parents talked about late at night, how could Jake have left without them _possibly _knowing?

Jake was closer to Trixie and Spud than Haley was to anybody in her entire life.

"I just don't understand. I think Gramps knows something but he won't tell us and I know it's killing Mom not to know _why_."

Trixie and Spud shared one of the most obvious looks that Haley had ever seen in her life.

"What?" Haley cried, pinning her eyes on Spud, who she knew was much easier to break than Trixie.

"Look, we were with Jake that night –" Spud said while Trixie shook her head.

"We didn't know that he was going to leave," she clarified quickly. "He never mentioned that."

"We told your grandfather what happened," Spud said. "We were headed to a party. Something came up. You know how things always came up with him."

Haley nodded. Jake could hardly leave the house without having to transform at least once, going to help and protect like he always did.

"Creatures died," Trixie said bluntly. "The Huntsclan was there. He did his best but he didn't know there would be so many of them and I don't think he realized there were so many creatures out either. He told us to go to the party – that he had to go talk to your grandfather about what happened and that they needed to try and figure out what the Huntsclan was up to."

"It wasn't weird," Spud said. "He usually did that. We knew this one had been bad but we didn't think that there would be any problem letting him go on his own."

"We actually thought that it would be better. To let him clear his head."

Haley folded her hands in her lap, suddenly feeling her appetite leave her. It all made sense now. She still didn't think that Jake should have left but she understood why he had wanted to.

"And you told Gramps?"

"Yes," Trixie said. "He didn't want us to tell you or your parents. I didn't question why."

No one questioned Gramps. That was just a fact of life.

"Are you okay?" Spud asked.

Haley wasn't sure.

(-.-)

The Pacific Northwest. They were officially on the western side of the country, having far left behind their east coast roots. Already, Rose could breathe a little bit easier as they found a hotel room for the night, in a small town in Washington, not far from the Canadian border.

"Let's go for a walk," Jake suggested. "The sun will go down soon so it'll be romantic."

Rose agreed and went to go get changed. In the bathroom mirror, as she brushed out her long blonde hair, she stared at herself in the mirror. Though she tried to keep eye contact with herself, her gaze kept being drawn to the heavy brace around her arm. Jake kept saying things about romance, even though he had only said that he loved her once. But, she could see it in his actions. He was still Jake, of course, he was never going to change any of the smart-ass, mischievous qualities that had charmed him into her car in the first place. There _was _something different though. Something that was softer, something in the way that he looked at her. If Rose had any more experience in the department, she might have known how to handle him or her own feelings.

Still, she was going to keep him close. It could be selfishness on her part, but Rose wanted him with her. Even though they were on the west coast, even though he had a home to eventually go back to, she didn't feel as though time was running out. They were still in the hot throes of a summer that felt endless and, so, Rose left the bathroom and took Jake's hand, heading out into the setting sun.

This feeling was what she had run away for.

(-.-)

The Dark Dragon flew high above the evening clouds, keeping an ear out for any approaching aircraft. New York City was far behind him but the two dragons he'd left behind wouldn't have figured that out. Not that Andam or Lao Shi would know their tails from their noses and the Dark Dragon had made sure that he'd left behind enough anarchy that they wouldn't be able to follow him. At least, not right away. He had business to attend to, business that he now knew was more west than east and they had their own business to attend to. He had made sure to terrorize every creature that he had come across, shown himself to every human that would pull themselves out of their cell phones, and then he had poked that hornet's nest that was the Huntsclan, just for the hell of it, and then listened to their communications.

It had been great fun, for a while, but he was a dragon on a mission and he wasn't upset to leave the chaos behind. He flapped his mighty wings and tested his tongue against the air, feeling the thrill go through him. He was, at his core, a hunter.

And his prey was nearly his.

(-.-)

Jake took a bow, hopping off the small stage. There was a hesitant smatter of applause that greeted him. He knew that the cities of Washington were liberal, though he wasn't sure about the towns, and he was sure that some short, scrawny Chinese kid hopping up on a karaoke stage only to bust out with Sir Mix-a-Lot's _Baby Got Back _with the force of the three beers he'd consumed wasn't what the audience was expecting. But, Rose was smiling and clapping when he returned to their table and, really, hadn't that been the whole aim.

"You know, I think you might actually be good," she mused.

"Hey! What's that supposed to mean?"

"The first time you did _that _in front of me, you had just barged into my car. I'm not even sure I knew your name at that point. It was just overwhelming."

"I'm pretty sure you knew my name at that point," Jake said, taking her hand under the table. "And, I'm not going to admit whether or not you have a point because I know I can rap and because you're up next."

Rose laughed and then when he didn't laugh too, glanced horrified at the stage and then back at him.

"What? No! Jake, I can't sing."

"Luckily that's not a requirement of karaoke."

"I don't know any of the songs."

Jake shook his finger at her. "We both know that's not true. You like when I put the radio on now and you're starting to be able to sing along. Don't worry, I picked one that I'm sure you know."

Rose grumbled something under her breath about not actually knowing any songs and how he was full of something. But, like he knew she would, when her name was called, she got up from the table and strode confidently toward the mic. As much as she griped about things, her spirit was as adventurous as his own – she just sometimes needed more of a push than he did.

Jake watched as she nervously stood behind the mic, fiddling with the edges of the t-shirt she was in. Then, a smile lit up her face as she learnt that he'd been right – she did know this song. As she opened her mouth and let the first few words of Cyndi Lauper's _Girls Just Wanna Have Fun _start to fly, Jake leant back, wondering how she was still doubting him. Didn't she realize that he knew her better than anyone else by now, even with all of the secrets that they were both keeping? She could say the same about him; he knew he wasn't being arrogant by saying it.

And he was glad that she was the one he knew that well and that she was the one that knew him that well. Jake had left home with the intention of healing and going back. He'd never thought he'd be on the other side of the country, the summer have slipped away. For the first time, Jake felt like he had the whole world in front of him. He didn't have to go back and be who he was, he could follow a beautiful girl with an awful singing voice away from the continental U.S.A. altogether, picking up odd jobs as they took time to explore instead of just run away.

Flushed and grinning brilliantly, Rose dropped into the seat beside him.

"Please, don't ever tell me how bad that was."

"Did you have fun?"

Rose hesitated for a moment, as if she were going to be shy with him, and then she nodded enthusiastically. "But, I never would have done it without you."

"There's a lot I wouldn't do without you either," Jake said, taking her hand as she picked up her Cosmo. "That's why we work so well."

"What do you want to do in Seattle?" she asked. "It's got a lot of music history and that's your thing."

"I mean, we have to go check out the Nirvana exhibit," Jake mused. "Just because. I'm not the biggest Nirvana fan but they were a big influence. What do you think?"

"I think I couldn't name a Nirvana song to save my life," Rose said and then she nudged his knee, "and I also think that now that I've said that, it's the first thing you're going to put on when we start driving tomorrow."

Jake glanced toward the now empty stage. "Why wait?"

And he went to pick a new song.

(-.-)

Lao Shi met Andam at the agreed rendezvous point, on a roof high enough that they would not be noticed by anyone else. Fu Dog climbed from his back, going to the edge to look down on the city but Lao Shi knew that his ears were cocked to catch every word that Lao Shi and Andam exchanged.

"The Dark Dragon has left the city, I am sure of it," Andam said. "But what we can't be certain of is where he went."

Lao Shi glanced upward, picking out the few stars that could be visible amongst the light pollution. His enemy was out there, his grandson was out there, and he was clueless to them both.

"Are you sure there is no way to get in contact with the American Dragon?" Andam asked, for what was probably the thousandth time. And, for the thousandth time, Lao Shi wished there was a way to push him off the roof and watch him fall. "He could be of help and –"

"I have tried everything. Wherever he is, he's out of our reach. I will go after the Dark Dragon."

Andam shook his head. "You should not go alone."

"I know this enemy. I have defeated this enemy –"

"When you were much younger!"

"I will take Fu Dog," Lao Shi said, "I will be in contact all the time. But the Huntsclan is more open right now than they have ever been and we must leave someone behind in the city!"

Andam used his long neck to look down at the street but Lao Shi didn't even need a glance to know that he would spot one of the masked menaces running about, being obvious to the average citizens of New York – for all they noticed outside of themselves – and being obvious to the magical creatures whose blood they lusted after. The Dark Dragon must have stirred them into a frenzy and it was just another reason for Lao Shi to want to get his old enemy within his grasp.

"They are being more obvious," Andam said, "it's seemed like a lesser issue with the Dark Dragon in our faces but, perhaps, we should put the Huntsmaster next on our list."

"And we will," Lao Shi said. "When Fu and I return. We'll pack our bags at once."

"Then fly swift and communicate regularly," Andam said. "I hope you catch up to him soon."

Lao Shi nodded at him and then felt Fu climbing up his leg to settle into the hollow of his neck.

"Where are we even going to start looking for the Dark Dragon?" Fu asked once they were well out of Andam's earshot.

"We will figure that out as we go – there is something that I did not tell Andam."

"Which is?" Fu asked, impatiently tapping at Lao Shi's neck.

"A scale, last we fought. We can use it in magic to track him."

"Oh great," Fu said, "performing magic tricks at ten thousand feet. What could go wrong?"

"And I have a feeling," Lao Shi said, setting his eyes on the horizon, "that we will be going west."

(-.-)

Rose laughed and pulled Jake's head toward her, pressing her lips against his. It was raining outside, which left the inside of the room cool, even if the summer temperatures hadn't finished yet. She could feel goosebumps on her own arms but as Jake leant over her, she could feel nothing but heat from his skin. He ducked his head, kissing the back of the hand that was resting against his chest. Then, he picked up her hand and kissed the back of her brace.

"I think it's a little unfair that, technically, I've never seen you completely naked."

"Maybe one day," Rose said, thinking that if anyone was going to get to 'one day' with her, it would be him. "When I can face it myself."

Jake's eyebrows raised. "I thought you said that it was an old injury."

"An old cult scar," Rose said. "I'm hoping that someday, I'll have enough time and distance from them to face it myself."

Rose could read it on Jake's face that he wanted to ask more questions but there must have been something in her expression that told him to hold his tongue, because he didn't ask, even though she knew that it was in his nature to ask.

"You're beautiful," Jake said, leaning over her so that their bare chests were pressed together, his lips underneath her ear. "I mean that. In and out."

"No need to suck up to me when I'm already naked," Rose said, even though she could feel herself beginning to grin like it was the first time she'd ever heard anything like that.

"But I want to, because I want you to know," Jake said. "I want you to know that I love you."

Rose felt her heart swell with feeling but her throat close up. She felt as though she could barely breath or think and so she just pulled him down, kissing him to tell him everything she couldn't say aloud.

(-.-)

The Huntsmaster watched the Chinese Dragon carefully. He knew a great many things that he wasn't supposed to know or, at the very least, things that his enemies assumed that he would be ignorant of. The moment that the Chinese Dragon took off, the Huntsmaster knew that he was not just patrolling the city – he could see the shape of supplies sitting on the dragon's back. He was leaving the city and the Huntsmaster knew that he also had to go.

He ordered a car at once, equipped with radar that would show the dragon's movements – as long as he stayed within range of the beast. He didn't tell any of his subordinates where he was going, he had just moments before the dragon got too far ahead. And, he didn't want them to know that he firmly believed that the Chinese Dragon was heading off to wherever the Huntsgirl and, this time, nothing would stop him from getting her back.

**I likely won't be posting anything over the holidays but I'm finally getting back into the writing groove so hopefully I'll be able to put myself back on a schedule after this. But, the next chapter coming up is one of the two that I've been waiting to write since starting this story so I'm excited for you to be able to read it.**

**Let me know what you thought of the chapter, stay safe out there and don't forget that you can find me on tumblr: we - are - all - of - legend - now!**

**~TLL~**


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